The Talon - Senior Edition 2020

Back

Front

Internal cover

the talon

OUR MISSION The Talon strives to connect Graded to the world, and the world to Graded through respectfully entertaining and intellectually provocative work.

SUBMISSIONS The Talon wants to hear from you! We encourage submissions and ideas for articles and themes from all members of the Graded community. We publish in English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length and clarity. The opinions expressed in the articles are those of the writers and not necessarily of the Talon. For this reason, we do not accept anonymous submissions. Send submissions, ideas, and themes to talon@graded.br.

TALON SENIOR STAFF 2019-2020 EDITORS IN CHIEF: Nadya Marinkovic & Rosanne Van Ballegooijen PUBLISHING EDITORS: Laura Egan & João Aguiar de Souza SECTION EDITORS: Ava Hillman (FEATURES) & Maya Wainstein (ENTERTAINMENT) WRITERS: Camila Giraldez (POV),Sofia Pricolo (FEATURES), Maju Magalhães (ENTERTAINMENT), Aliza Cazes (HUMANS OF GRADED), Isabel Paiva (HUMANS OF GRADED) ARTIST: Lucas Marangoni TEACHER ADVISORS: Amos Van Die & Philip Altman

editor in chief

The Little Things...

Rosanne Van Ballegooijen

T

his is it, my last article for The Talon. It feels a little weird, but it also feels right. I have reached a point in my life, after those oh-solong 18-years, when I am ready to move on from the High School bubble and enter the university one. Being frank, it has taken me a while to get here. It is daunting to grow up in the safety net of private schools and scheduled lunches and have to leave it all behind for independence. Yes, I have wanted to do things on my own for a while. I believe most teenagers have thought that. We want to be able to leave our homes and stay out for hours, to sleep in without our parents walking in and banging the door open. But I wasn’t ready, for a long time, to even think about buying my own groceries and doing my own laundry and cleaning. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to my parents and my little brother and my best friends and teachers who I get to see every day. I wasn’t ready to think about sitting in lecture halls where the professor won’t know me by name, or about writing extended essays on a weekly basis. I’m probably still not physically in a position to dive into it (hey, I still have a whole summer to learn).

However, I’ve recently reached a point where I feel mentally prepared to take it all on: the adult life.

It’s one of those realisations that happens gradually over time, not the kind that comes barging into your brain and hits you like a truck. Now that I have arrived at this point, I finally feel ok saying goodbye to all those things I didn’t want to let go of before in my little bubble. In fact, in this article, I’m going to do just that. I know what you’re all thinking, that I’m going to be talking about my mom and my dad and my cat, but no, I won’t be. I’m going to be typing my goodbyes to the little things we all notice and appreciate, but always forget when we’re in these huge, life-changing situations. So, here: don’t forget them. Whenever I bring one up, feel free to put down the article and to take a second to reminisce.

Goodbye to: clocks that never worked or ran at the same time. You always found a reason to make me a minute or two late for class when my phone clearly said I was right on time. It always felt like a little game the students played against the teachers: who’s clock is right today?

Sayonara to: putting your feet up on the chair in front of you in the auditorium. While it was always reiterated by the admin not to do it, we all secretly did. Our mini acts of rebellion made us feel pretty sneaky in the moment, not to mention more comfortable in those seats that always seem to be at just the wrong angle.

Au revoir to: getting the docket in my inbox. Yes, I was one of the few people that read that email. It was nice to get the weather forecast through Ms. Cope’s crafty writing, and seeing the dysfunctional placement of pictures and announcements that literally embodied organised chaos.

I’m not going to get these emails in college, so starting June 1st, 2020, I’ll have to start putting birthdays in my calendar.

Adieu to: having a box of fruit in the hallways between classes. With the little money that I’m going to have leftover to spend on groceries in college at the end of each month (I’m a bit of an impulse-buyer, pretty bad habit…), I’m not sure this little pleasure is a possibility. Not only that, but I liked the mini anticipation of wondering if it was going to be a special day of watermelons instead of bananas.

Auf Wiedersehen to: Graded conspiracy theories, like not walking under the bell to risk not graduating (by the way, class of 2020, who did it? Who cursed our ceremony?) and having ghosts and bats in the auditorium (I swear they’re there, I almost encountered them in our early morning and late night rehearsals).

Tot ziens to: the gazillion accounts on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook starting with @graded_(fill in the blank) to advertise that one club that

2 • the talon

was around for less than a semester or an event that only happened once.

It’s a pleasure to have them in my ‘following’ list and feeling reminiscent when I finally decide to Insta-detox and unfollow them.

Adjö to: lining the cafeteria tables with our phones, or covering our chairs with our jumpers and backpacks. Next year, doing that would probably rob me of those pretty important items. Even thinking about this makes me appreciative of the unspoken trust that the student body has in each other not to steal one other’s stuff in the cafeteria. Yes, your phone will be spammed with someone’s double chin, but at least it’ll be in the same spot when you leave to spend at least 20 minutes of your lunch break getting the last remains of chicken and a heap of rice.

Aloha to: having an unofficial outfit of either sweatpants and college hoodies or jeans and basic tops. It made my morning that much easier, and gave me more time to respond to the group chat messages I’d missed by going to sleep “early”.

Viszlát to: going online on Sunday’s between 8 and 9 pm. It was actually really comforting knowing that when I went online for the zillionth time in a day (especially during quarantine…) I was going to have a whole heap of pictures to like and comment on.

Arrivederci to: knowing and expecting each teacher’s behaviour and their class. Upperclassmen had already told us to be prepared for Ms. Roy’s excitement regarding your pubescent years, or Mr. Pierce’s love for collaborative mind maps, or Mr. S’s super-cringe dad jokes, or Ms. Davenport’s mindful moments in class. In college… this same behaviour probably won’t be repeated.

Finally, tchau to some honourable mentions: losing 3G in the garage in the middle of calling your uber/mom/driver, having to use 3G at school because school blocked almost all apps, meeting everyone in the hallways before school, running into your teachers from middle (for some, lower) school and thinking about how much life has changed, being featured in the slide show in assemblies (yay!), finding connections between teachers (like that they all lived in Bulgaria or all seem to come from Oceanic countries), complaining about overpriced smoothies and sandwiches, not even walking on the field and somehow getting those black thingies in your shoes and feeling uncomfortable for the rest of the day because of it, seeing your written work on middle school lockers, and lastly being able to know your entire class by name.

I guess we’ve reached the end of it then, my last few words in The Talon.

I’m not going to say goodbye to all the big things here, because those deserve to be said out loud and in person. I hope you were able to think about the little things and value them in the same, weird way that I did.

So, this is it, and I’m happily passing the torch over to the next class: Rosie out.

editor in chief

A Senior Year in Focus Nadya Marinkovic very year, I laid my saxophone on the ground in front of my little seat E in the senior band, and I would turn my chair to face the stage. A name would be called, and as the senior walked across the stage to do the “shakening of the hands,” their friends would accompany the sound of the audience’s applause with loud screams and inside jokes. Then finally I watched the loudest graduate shout out the senior slogan, and in a matter of seconds the tassels were brought to the side as the graduation caps flew into the air. There is something glorious about a graduation ceremony. I don’t know if it is the sudden burst of music at the end of the ceremony, the overflow of confetti, or the happiness that is tattooed on the face of everyone present. Every year, I watched the world halt for the few hours that celebrated the graduation of a class of emotional seniors.

My favorite yearly ritual brought a new sense of excitement, however, when the Class of 2019 graduated, because as I left school that day, I knew that in a year’s time the senior wiping her tears while simultaneously laughing with their friends would be me. Therefore, as my heart ached over the uncertainty of our own ceremony, I chose to focus on the many senior experiences that occurred since then; the very highlights of my few short months as a Graded senior. Thus, for any seniors who care to reminisce, or any excited underclassman who cares to see a preview of their year ahead, here is my very own, senior year in focus.

August: A blur of blue on the green field stands below the bright yellow sparkles in the air, and simultaneously 100 seniors experience absolute bliss. After a night of meaningful conversations and never-ending laughter, it finally sinks in that “we are seniors.” And as those bundles of sleepy blue-hooded 12th graders watch the sun come up, they all arrive at the conclusion they will graduate in about a year’s time.

Then, like magic, an irreplaceable connection is made between all of the individuals in that field. The rush of graduation and coming-ofage towards newfound independence creates an inexplicable unity in the senior class. With August comes every senior’s excitement to become a captain, a leader, a college admit, or even a Big8/SAAC winner. The year starts with a group of individuals beginning to achieve the peak of everything they have been working towards to achieve.

September: As September rolls around, the seniors rush into panic mode.

There is commotion in the hallways before summatives: some are cramming definitions and formulas, others are chatting and drinking coffee to relax, and others are already standing outside the classroom, eagerly awaiting the hour of despair. The students who studied are threatening themselves by thinking how the outcome of that one grade will be, potentially what gets them in or keeps them out of their top choices. The ones who didn’t study get creative: they give a handshake to a genius classmate or resort to praying. Like any other dilemma as a teenager, in September, every test truly feels like the end of the world. If it is of any consolation, the seniors will one day notice that is not true.

October: As October wanders in, seniors scramble for their college lists.

They try to make appointments with the highly demanded counselors, and when they fail to find a slot, they ask themselves “Why did I not do this sooner?” At the same time, they’re meeting with their teachers, their clubs, and college representatives. The common app and UCAS applications are created, and every senior takes a deep breath as they realize they will one day go to college. Not to mention, the 12th graders are balancing an overload of IB classes and extracurriculars, with a few hours of sleep and a couple of mental breakdowns. Even more, they’re having constant life reflections, as they realize that to write their college supplements they actually do have to figure out where, what, and why they want to study. In October, the graduating class is just about ready to drop out of high-school.

November: As November falls in, college application season truly begins. The top choice applications are sent-out and students eagerly count down to the day of their decisions. They feel like the one that has been sent is “it”, and so they can’t help but dread writing other supplements.

However, for other seniors, there is much excitement about the month of Thanksgiving. For instance, some athletes are playing their final games at school and are going off to their last Big 8. The actors are having their last plays, and the delegates are having their last MUN. And although those blue-hooded seniors in August thought they knew they were graduating, it is in November when they finally feel like seniors.

December: As jolly December comes around, the early college decisions are out. Some seniors experience happiness unlike any other, because all that they have been working for is validated by the letter of an institution. However, some experience quite the opposite, and unfortunately have to deal with spending time writing more and more college essays.

Nevertheless, this month also presents the end of first semester, and all those seniors can’t believe how fast time has gone by. So, on the last day of December, they meet up on a beach all dressed in white to celebrate the beginning of what is supposed to be their year.

January: As the new and improved January sets in, the seniors come to the conclusion “they finally won’t have to work anymore.”

They have sent in their applications, they have received their predicted scores, and now they can wander around the school with the weight of a feather on their shoulders.

PTA

February: As February jumps back into their lives, the seniors find out that everything they previously thought in January was not true. Due to their intense January senioritis, they now have the weight of a few bricks and a couple of bad grades hanging over their shoulders. But since every senior experiences it together, they graduates feel supported and unified under their cloud of “proficiency” marked tests.

March: As March’s colors fly in, carnaval comes and seniors leave school feeling like a million dollars. Those 10 days of break represent independence, freedom, and bucket list finishing hopes. They do everything a non-IB senior has probably been doing for about an entire semester. So, every senior is living their best lives, and embracing the samba-filled holiday. Unfortunately, in those 10 days seniors should have probably been at home studying for their mock exams. So, a moment of silence, for the 98 of 100 seniors every year that walk into their mocks in those panic-filled classrooms feeling like they are about to witness their own funerals.

For the Class of 2020, the year ended the week after the mocks. For that reason, I am obliged to discontinue my ‘senior year in focus’. Seniors, if you are reading this, I hope you find some closure by realizing we had so many senior experiences, some bad but many good. Therefore, although my yearly ritual will no longer occur, as you say goodbye to the Class of 2020, juniors and other underclassmen, enjoy every senior experience before venturing into the unknown. Attend every film festival, watch every play, cheer in all the athletic games, finally join MUN, go to Big and SAAC, and lead your clubs. Your senior year will be amazing, so focus in on all those blue blurs on the green field standing beneath the yellow flashes of the phones, because in some time, they’ll be standing beside you as the world halts for a few hours to celebrate you and your family. For me, that is the Class of 2020.

the talon • 3

point of view

Thank You’s and Goodbye’s Ava Hillman

T

hese final months of our senior year have been saturated with emotions of all kinds: disappointment of losing the end, for losing the chance to celebrate the way we wanted; a longing for normalcy, yet knowing there’s no other choice but to adapt; excitement for the future, yet fear at what that might look like now; and the emotion that encompasses it all is sadness. These kinds of endings are always tinged with bitterness, but there is sweetness from the chance to spend final moments with people and places that have been important. The last months of senior year is the time when the goodbyes take place, when we get to reminisce and laugh together for the last time; we personally reflect on what we’ve done, come to terms with what we’re leaving, who we have been, and who we might be as we move on.

But this time, goodbye is nothing how we imagined it, it looks and feels so different than it was supposed to, and it has been incredibly hard to fully wrap our heads around.

For months I sort of just existed in this timeless bubble, showing up for synchronous days every other day, and it had been so easy to forget what was coming; but as the last week of classes rolled around, the realization that I was really facing the end came crashing down on me as I sat on Zoom for the end-of-year basketball meeting. After nine long years of playing that sport, and five years of winning and losing with my team at Graded, I was left looking at 15 faces on a screen. How could this virtual moment give me the closure I really longed for? As I sat and listened to my teammates speak to each senior to share their gratitude and talk about the impact that our relationships had had on them and the team, honestly, I felt separated. I was coming to terms with the fact that I was going to be moving on and they weren’t, but it was a distant feeling.

I was left thinking of what sort of impression I was leaving behind me. Is that a legacy? What does a legacy really even look like?

So I listened to each and every “thank you,” “I love you,” and “I’m going to miss you,”, passively taking it all in; but in the silence that followed the chorus of goodbyes as people logged off, I sat on my bed and I cried.

When you’re in person, these same goodbye’s can happen without much needing to be said; it’s enough to just be together. If that final meeting were to have taken place in

4 • the talon

person, looking back on my time at Graded would have involved crying and hugging and laughing; and that connection says all of the “thank yous,” “I love yous,” and “I’m going to miss yous” on its own. Some of those things we might say out loud, but we can tend to stay quiet about the legacy that people leave on you; how people have grown with you, or changed you. The unspoken gratitude comes across in those physical moments that you share with people, and it is actually that that brings about some of the closure that we need to move forward.

We try to plan so much of our lives, and if there’s anything that this situation is teaching us, it’s that things won’t always go the way we expect. But the funny thing about leaving a legacy, is that you can’t plan for it, and we don’t even try. We don’t join clubs or activities or make relationships with certain people with the sole purpose of changing them; we actually probably do it selfishly. What can I get out of this experience? How can this help make me look good on my application? I need help improving my grade in this.

And yet, when we reach the end of a chapter like we are now, people get caught up in the idea of a legacy, and of course we do, because don’t we all want to have made a difference? But the thing about legacy, about having true importance for the people around you, is that it’s not very glamorous. More often than not, it won’t be noticeable to you because true legacies are simply the impact you have on people around you, how you’ve helped them without really even knowing it.

Except right now, we can’t share these moments in person, feel the unspoken words of thank you. In this time of goodbye through Zoom calls and “I miss you” texts, even though closure feels impossible, know that it isn’t, the only difference now is that you have to say it. If someone has made any kind of impact on you, been there for you, changed you; tell them. To hear the reasons why you’ve been important to somebody can give you that same closure and that same feeling that you have made a difference. It’s probably going to be awkward and kind of weird to say out loud or write out what someone has done for you, why they matter to you, but I think it has to be done.

We crave connection and right now, words are the way that we can connect with each other, one last time.

point of view

Sign After Sign

How coffee ice cream made me ED to Vanderbilt Laura Egan

D

artmouth. Dartmouth. Dartmouth. That was everything I talked about after I watched the college’s presentation one night at Graded. I couldn’t quite pinpoint what stood out about Dartmouth, but its “vibes” drew me in instantly. I signed up for every newsletter possible and began following Dartmouth on all social media platforms. Every few weeks I would receive something from Dartmouth in the mail. Although all of the D3 magazines (Dartmouth’s magazines) arrived months later than their original publication date, I was exhilarated every time I read them. I specifically remember reading a Christmas edition during carnival; and although I was enjoying sunny São Paulo, D3 made me crave snowy New Hampshire.

Yet, while I was full of passion and excitement, I wasn’t one to bring up Dartmouth in every conversation. To be honest, I barely mentioned it to others. However, there was an exception; one person who made it impossible for me to keep my mouth shut: Jake. Jake was my ACT tutor who coincidentally had recently graduated from Dartmouth. For some reason, since having moved to São Paulo, he decided that every Friday he would wear a different piece of Dartmouth merchandise. While some of my friends worked with him throughout the week, I ended up with a fixed scheduled slot on Fridays (which I had set up before knowing anything about him). Of course, I thought it was a sign, and, as my ACT score rose, Jake began to encourage me to apply. Unfortunately, Jake left Brazil before I ended my ACT preparation. But perhaps that too was a sign since. After his departure, I was assigned to a new tutor, Alexandria, who was a graduate from Vanderbilt.

Vanderbilt had always been in the back of my mind, as a representative had caught my attention the same night I fell head over heels for Dartmouth.

Not long after I started my sessions with Alexandria, I went college touring with my dad. Our trip had a few stops, including both Dartmouth and Vanderbilt. At this point, each school had half of my heart. Still, I was leaving my options open; after all, I am a super indecisive person and most of my friends assumed I wasn’t going to ED anywhere. As I flew into Nashville, I witnessed one of the prettiest sunsets I had ever seen. Immediately, I became extra eager for my visit the next day. Once I landed in Nashville, I was greeted by a projection that read “Vanderbilt welcomes you to Nashville”. All these little things were beginning to seem like signs. But it was during the information session prior to my tour that I received what I saw as my biggest sign.

I sat down with my father in a room of about 30 prospective students. Before the admissions officer began the presentation, he made each student get up to say their name and favorite ice cream flavor. What a random thing. As I anxiously waited for my turn I kept hearing similar answers: vanilla, chocolate, and cookie dough. Finally, my turn arrived. I stood up and shared my name and my favorite ice cream flavor: Laura, and coffee. I sat back

down and continued to listen; different flavors appeared but no one seemed to share my passion for coffee ice cream. That was until the admissions officer presented himself and shared that his favorite ice cream flavor was coffee. In that moment, I knew. Although it was such a small coincidence, it messed with my head.

The overall tour ended up being great too, but it was the coffee ice cream that stuck to my brain.

As I worked my way from South to North of the US, the college visits became repetitive. Driving to New Hampshire, I was no longer excited to visit Dartmouth, or so I thought... But somehow the empty forest road charmed me, and although I always lived in big cities – NYC then São Paulo – there was something about seeing kids with a lemonade stand in the middle of the street and the overall welcomeness of the city that really got to me. During my Dartmouth college tour, everything seemed to click, yet I couldn’t get the whole coffee ice cream situation out of my head.

That night, I had dinner with my father and we discussed the handful of tours we had gone through over the last week. I vibrated with happiness talking about Dartmouth, but my father shared with me that something just didn’t seem right about the college. Contrastingly, he shared with me that he could imagine me in Vanderbilt and that it was the university that most caught his attention. Still, it was my decision to make.

I wrote both applications and I was still unsure about my final decision.

Dartmouth made me feel some kind of way that I just couldn’t put into words, but Vanderbilt checked off all the boxes of what I was looking for. As I sat down and really thought about my decision, I realized that my unexplainable attraction to Dartmouth was not actually a “pro” but rather a “con”. I should be able to explain why I want to attend an institution. While I frequently make irrational decisions solely based on my momentary feelings, I noticed this was not the time of that kind of behavior. Yet, as I began letting go of Dartmouth and shifting my full attention to Vanderbilt, I realize I had a similar feeling towards Vanderbilt all along. Not only did the school have everything I wanted (size, courses, location, etc.), but Vanderbilt also brought to me the feeling of excitement that words could never explain. Although both schools presented multiple signs to me, that stupid coffee ice cream just never left my mind. To all the upcoming college applicants, find the school with your version of coffee ice cream that checks off your boxes, and you’ll know you’ve made the right decision.

Laura Egan

I submitted. I got accepted. And now I can’t wait to have coffee ice cream in Nashville.

the talon • 5

point of view Something We Can All Bond Over Camila Giraldez o one can deny that we got it bad. Our whole senior year was N turned upside down in a matter of weeks. But I’m not here to talk about that. During such a tumultuous period, let’s look back

to get in, but at the time of the result, you were devastated. This also applies to European universities. Although there are no Early classifications, you still get into your first school or you don’t, and of course, being human, you felt the same emotions as the American applicants did, no matter if it was a safety or not.

As we all know, the process definitely didn’t start in senior year.

It began a long, long time ago, back in junior year, when we had no clue what our senior year would become. But I’m not going to start back there,either, as this article would be 5 pages long.

Instead, I’m going to begin in October of our senior year… when most of us were starting to put in our applications. (except for Tommaso.)

Following this, for some, the process is over. Congratulations to the ED and REA applicants who got in! And to the EU applicants who had already gotten into their top choice! For others, we weren’t done just yet. More Early Action results roll in as we finish applying to our Regular Decision schools. Either more disappointment or more excitement ensues. There’s a whole range of emotions. Deferrals, acceptances, rejections all have their own expressions attached to them.

on the only thing that stayed normal and consistent throughout the year: the college process.

The people applying to American schools were most likely, at this point, polishing their Early Decision or Restrictive Early Action essays, as well as other Early Action applications. We would read over every aspect of our CommonApp, make sure every little detail was correct, and fix spelling mistakes. Then, we checked every single supplemental essay, ensured the grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and any other language rules were correctly applied (I think we can all say we proofread our application more than we ever did our written assignments). For the Europe-people who were applying for the October deadline, there was still the same feeling of stress and panic, checking your applications over and over again. And then we all hit “submit”. That feeling of panic fades (or grows for a few seconds because of your last-minute panicking before fading), and we get into the headspace of being on cloud nine. We dreamt of our lives at the universities we applied to, the friends we’d make, the experiences we’d have.

Then came around two months of absolute stress. We all had those nights where it was hard to fall asleep because we were overthinking about getting into the school we wanted, or if it was even the right fit for us. And then we get into a stage of bouncing back and forth between “I love this school” and “I hate this school.” Or we think: “everyone else who applied to the same school is so much smarter than me, I’m nervous!” (which isn’t true).

And then, right in the middle of it all, corona hit. We thought it wasn’t a big deal, it wouldn’t affect something as big as our college decisions, right? But it did.

We were suddenly forced to stay home, and just our luck, that’s when Regular Decisions started rolling in, as well as some EU applications. Suddenly, people who were receiving their first college decision were no longer able to go to school the next day and get drawn all over or get their heads shaved by their friends. Suddenly, Ms. Condesso and Mr. Havern reported that there would be an increase among several colleges in waitlisting applicants, which made all of the people applying to the U.S. who were waiting for their Regular Decision responses very ShutterStock nervous. For those who never had the experience of being waitlisted, they feel like soft rejections. They feel like a “you’re good, but not good enough” in most of our minds (although this isn’t really true at all). As if to make the fact that the rest of our senior year was canceled worse, suddenly the chances of getting accepted reduced. For some, that didn’t matter, as what came in their inboxes were purely letters starting with “Congratulations...”, “We are pleased to inform you...” or “You’ve received an offer from…” (I’m looking at you, Sofia). For others, it was a mix of acceptances, waitlists, and rejections, which already hurt, but when you can’t mourn together with other people who are going through the same experience because you’re confined to your household, it augments that hurt.

And finally, those who had applied already got their first response.

Maybe it was one of your Early Actions, maybe it was your Early Decision. But there were four ways it could go. You either (1) got into one of your Early Actions and got extremely excited because, even if it’s a safety, you’re going to college! (2) You got rejected from an Early Action and you either pretend you don’t care or are honest and show your sadness, because no matter what school, rejection stings. (3) You got into your Early Decision and are over the moon, shocked, and had an adrenaline rush all at once because you did it. You made it into your top choice! (4) Or, you got rejected/deferred from your Early Decision, which hurts already, because rejection always does, but hurts doubly as well because it was your top choice. Looking back, you realize that the schools that rejected you weren’t right for you, and it was a blessing not

Finally, after receiving all of our decisions. We are faced with a decision. Either it’s simple, you know what school you want to go to and you deposit/put it as your firm, or, due to indecisiveness, you’re faced with a dilemma. Or, because of waitlists, you’re also faced with another dilemma. You put your deposit in, keeping in mind there’s a big chance you’ll end up attending there, and then play the gambling game. You wait, and wait for a response from your waitlisted schools. Some are still waiting for a response.

Those who are applying to Brazilian universities are still waiting to take their Vestibular or the ENEM (good luck to you guys!). To conclude, no matter where we are or where we’re going, we’ve almost all gone through this grueling, torture of a process, and made it out alive. Congratulations! It is my pleasure to inform the Class of 2020 that you’ve all made it!

6 • the talon

point of view

The Gap Year I

t normally takes about ten years to decide what you are going to do after you graduate from high school, since there are millions of paths to take, or at least that’s what my friends told me. For some odd reason, ever since I was in lower school, I knew what I wanted to do as soon as I graduated high school: I wanted to take a gap year and go to Israel. I know it sounds confusing at first, but let me help you understand how I knew from such an early age what I wanted to do.

I grew up in a pretty non-conservative Jewish family.

Both sides of my family have carried the religion from generation to generation, each and every generation gaining new traditions. Ever since I was little, my parents enrolled me in a tnua, which is a youth movement with a jewish focus that teaches values and different ideologies.

My parents met at one of these movements, and fell in love after spending lots of time working there together. I remember them telling me various fairytale-like stories about their experiences, which made me fall in love with the tnua more and more, to the point where I began to grow a strong passion for it. Over the eighteen years of my life, I’ve gone to four tnuot, until I found the perfect fit, one with a group of people that I got along with, as well as a place where the values they teach match with my own personal values.

Aliza Cazes

university?

I’ve been preparing for the moment that I leave for many years, recalling the days where I cheered with my friends about how, in six months, we would finally be going to Israel for our summer tnua and now, we cheer that in less than six months we are going to Israel for our year-long tnua. Time flies by really quick, and I still can’t believe how far I’ve come and I’m really excited to see what turns it will take in the future. What excites me the most is the change in routine compared to what I’ve done for the last years, and the ability to try something new that is definitely out of my comfort zone. I’m really thankful for all that I’ve been through, as well as for the support my parents have given me over the years in order for me to really pursue what I’m passionate about.

At this point in my senior year, I feel bittersweet about leaving, since this year abroad will definitely be something completely new to me. On the other hand, I’m really excited to explore this opportunity, and to learn Anwar Nillufary something new that I will be able to tell my future children and grandchildren. Graded, thanks for the last four years of my life, I wouldn’t trade the moments I made and the people I met for nothing else :,) <333.

When my parents graduated high school, they both went to Israel, where they had distinct experiences which shaped them to become who they are today.

“Going to Israel made me realize that I didn’t want to study journalism as much as I thought, and made me realize what I was really interested in: biochemical engineering,” I recall my father telling me once. As much as it may sound like it, no, my parents are not the ones who are forcing me to go to Israel. In fact, I doubted myself along the process of preparation, asking myself if the group of people that are going with me could end up hating me, or if I would end up wasting a year that I could’ve been studying at

the talon • 7

features How being a PGC Leader was not what I expected it to be Maju Magalhães

I

decided that I wanted to become a PGC leader during my freshman retreat in 2017. Though the weekly outreaches were some of my favorite parts of the week, the retreat was an unforgettable trip. My experience as a freshman was very important to me, as I had just recently entered Graded, and it was a good place for me to meet new people and make new friends. Throughout the rest of freshman, sophomore, and junior year, I was convinced that I wanted to be a leader in my senior year. I wanted to be able to provide an experience for my freshman as special and memorable as mine was. Since 9th grade, I started paying more attention to the PGC senior leaders, and tried to gather as much information about it. By the time I signed up for the test-drive in junior year, I was convinced I knew almost everything there was to know about being a senior leader. However, exactly a year later, I can say that I was almost completely wrong.

Naturally, when someone thinks about PGC, they instantly relate it to freshmen. Before joining the program, I thought the purpose of it was to mentor the freshmen and to ease their transition from middle to high school. This was only natural as, when you’re a freshman, all you think your leaders do is come up with activities for you that focus on the relationships between you and your peers.

Even the description of the program on the PGC website is: “Peer Group Connection-High School (PGC-HS) is an evidence-based and school-based program that supports and eases students’ successful transition from middle to high school. The program taps into the power of older students to create a nurturing environment for incoming 9th graders.” From outside, the program seems to be 100% focused and devoted to the freshmen––which was exactly what I was expecting before I joined.

I first realized that my expectations for PGC were completely wrong in the senior retreat. Senior leaders go on a retreat in early August to plan the retreat for the freshman in the beginning of the second semester of the school year, or so I thought. Our schedule in Acampamento Aruanã was very similar to what we did with the freshmen in late January, and we were responsible for giving feedback about it to eventually help us plan our own trip. However, the more time I got to spend with this group of people that I didn’t really know before, the more I realized that the retreat was more for us seniors than for the freshmen. It was a chance for us to get to know each other better, discover more about ourselves, and learn how to better work as a group. The

8 • the talon

retreat ended up being truly life-changing and better than I could have ever expected. It ended up not meeting any of my expectations, but surpassing them tremendously.

The same holds true to the program as a whole. With every outreach, I learnt more and more each time that Peer Group Connection is not solely about the freshmen; rather, it is very much about the senior leaders. It is about the bonds made, learning how to work with a co-leader, learning about yourself, learning how to be a leader, amongst numerous other things. As a very critical person, I expected every outreach to be a complete success, to see gratitude and excitement from the freshmen at all times, and to create lifelong bonds with my group. In reality, in the vast majority of times, my expectations were not met. The activities in the outreaches often did not engage the freshmen, they didn’t always like the food I brought, and they most definitely didn’t always show excitement. I was initially very sad about it, but eventually learned that they wouldn’t always be demonstrating what they were feeling. I used to think that how excited they were was a reflection of how much it meant to them, but I learned that it really wasn’t. Additionally, I realized that the biggest effect the program would have was on myself. It taught me that the best things are not always planned, it taught me a great deal about teamwork, it taught me how to impose order in a group while also being their friend, it taught me patience, and, most importantly, it taught me that sometimes my expectations are not going to be met, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. PGC was a life-changing experience that taught me a lot about myself and others, and made me grow significantly as a person. My overall experience and the takeaways from it were almost nothing like I had imagined it: they were far greater than I could have ever thought possible, which is what made it so unique and special.

college essays Letter to Future Roommate Stanford University

Martin Hoberman

H

ey Roommate,

Please accept this batch of homemade empanadas as a token of my gratitude for your continued understanding of all my quirks and eccentricities. The ones with folded corners are spicy beef; the others are my favorite: humita. It’s taken a lifetime of burnt filling, soggy crust, and charred glaze to perfect my craft, so please send all compliments to my mom for her support as my instructor and (willing) culinary lab rat.

I have to say, I’m glad our friendship survived move-in day when you opened the door to find a year’s supply of Petri dishes where the beds should be. Luckily, for both of us, Professor Dixon agreed to host me, and my equipment, in his lab for the time being.

I also appreciate your support of my athletic endeavors. I assumed that after watching me lose enough games you’d stop showing up, yet there you were, watching me get demolished in badminton, and again, cheering as I missed my lay-up at last week’s intramural tournament. I know you said it’s the least you could do after I stayed up all night with you practicing for our Quiz Bowl tournament, but seriously, you’re the real MVP. Yet, more than anything, I’m thankful for all of our adventures over the last year. Whether we’re biking along the 101 on our way to Muir Woods, or just enjoying the latest Last Week Tonight over burgers from The Treehouse, your friendship has truly meant the most to me.

Sincerely, Martin

A song that represents me Emory University

Camila Giraldez “Blow harder, and more rapidly.” Okay...sounded easy enough. Yet, as I repeated the technique more than three times, my lungs felt exhausted and my solo fell out of the band’s synchrony: my trumpet was producing noise, but not music.

Night after night, I would spend hours practicing a specific line of “Spring Fling” by Mike Tomaro--my first extensive solo for my school’s Jazz Band. Yet, repetition wasn’t enough; I needed to improve my lung capacity. Who knew a band kid would have to do physical training? I needed to start running to adapt my body to the stress of playing. From then on, I was no longer the young Camila playing for fun. I now had a responsibility to play, because I was essential to our group’s performance.

Facing the initial fear of not delivering, I overthought the performance. Mr. Tomaro’s piece challenged me, as the continuous stroke of high notes made my solo a mini marathon of rhythm where I had to exercise my dexterity, endurance, and acoustic abilities. But, with training, what was once an impossible line of notes that my fragile body couldn’t handle, became the first piece of music that proved to me not only that I was ready for the challenge, but that adversities are integral to personal development. By embracing obstacles, we can maximize the chances of succeeding, and most importantly, reach the epitome of who we can become as people - as well as a musician in my case - and soon as professionals.

the talon • 9

college essays

My Favorite Quote Lawrence Univeristy

Ava Hillman “There’s a lot of beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that the point?” - Pam Beesly, The Office

T

he Office is one of those shows that feels like it was always on in the background in my house.

I’m familiar with those characters, their stories, and their jokes because for years I watched this show with family and friends and we developed our own inside jokes. I don’t think this quote is the most profound quote, it’s not life changing or said by someone special, but it stood out to me as a reflection of my life so far. My family started traveling the world when I was very young, and it often takes me by surprise when we talk about some of the places we’ve been, places that I may not remember. Thai beaches, New Year’s in Cambodia, the Nile cruise, and yet the thing I look forward to most every summer is the drive on I-35 to Iowa. I know why, when I tell people that, they laugh.

It’s fun to be able to say that I’ve been to that place, and I’ve done or seen that; to say that I’ve learned about that part of the world by being there, but that isn’t the reason we go. We don’t visit new places to have photos to show for it, we go because of the memories and jokes we’re going to make. It’s the simple things that hold meaning and beauty and long lasting memories, like sitting around watching a show like The Office. I pay attention to those little things everyday that remind you to have fun. Isn’t that the point?

One of My Quirks University of Virginia

Jacque Ussher own a jar of luck, it sits on my bedside table, and it shines different metallic colors when the light hits it. I don’t even believe in luck anymore: I think life is a mix of hard work, chance, and circumstance. As I grew up, I thought I would also stop believing in my lucky jar, a jar of pennies from different places I visit, but as silly as it sounds, I cannot bring myself to get rid of the jar. Wherever I travel, I simply cannot help myself from picking up something that can be of no notice to others. Every foreign country I visit, I try and find a penny to take back home and put it in my jar. The moment a sudden light catches my eye, and a shiny penny is looking up at me from the ground, I feel lucky.

It is a way I found of encapsulating an overall experience in a new place to a single, small, object.

Even if I do not necessarily believe in the concept of luck, I do believe in appreciating everything.

While my jar of pennies has always reminded me of the places I have traveled to, the significance of the jar continues to change. When I look at it today, I think about the importance of giving value to the little things in life.

I

10 • the talon

college essays A Peer Who has made a Difference in my Life UNC Chapel Hill

Nadya Marinkovic

T

he light blue dress sparkled beneath the bright lights of the stage, a beautiful silence set in on the audience as “Alice” began her lines. She was fearless and gleaming with joy, a bliss unique to the moments she spent on stage. As she received a standing ovation, she searched the room looking for her best friend. When we locked eyes, the smile tattooed across my face was telling of my admiration of her. The same smile she would give me after watching my soccer games. Every year, she wouldn’t miss a playoff, and I wouldn’t miss a performance, both amazed by our undeniable passions. Before we met, I never realized that positivity instilled so much belief in others. Over the years, Rosanne pushed me to work harder and set goals for myself, not once telling me something was impossible. Her positivity made me embrace my flaws and learn from my mistakes. Her boldness motivated me to get out of my comfort zone and seek leadership roles. Most importantly, our friendship taught me that believing in our talents puts all our goals within reach. Every day I choose to bring these lessons with me by choosing to see everything in a more positive light, and it makes a significant difference in my life.

Impact by Collaborating With others John Hopkins University

Paula Fernandez decided to drop out of the Brazilian diploma in tenth grade. It was a spontaneous decision I made with my gut. I had come to view it as a superfluous part of a curriculum for my STEM-oriented schedule. By eleventh grade, I felt I was missing a part of the Brazilian culture that I had grown to love immensely. It did not feel right to live in São Paulo, a city of huge disparities and inequity, and not study the beautiful language of its culture, the one thing that does bring everyone together.

I

I then heard about a new integration program coming to my school: “Bem-Vindos!” On the slideshow, I learned that the club would teach Portuguese classes to immigrants and refugees to help them get used to life in their new country. I immediately related to the mission and understood its importance for the students. At the same time, I was grateful to become reacquainted with this adopted language in a more formal setting, again.

Once the club began, I sat-in on lessons. I saw my past Portuguese teachers exercise patience and compassion to people of all ages from Venezuela, Haiti, Egypt, the Philippines, and China. After a couple of months, I was called in by those teacher-advisors and told it was time for me to lead a lesson. While I had prepared lessons for some of my other clubs before, I had never stood up in front of adults and literally taught.

I reached out to a senior and one of the club’s leaders to ask for advice. We spent our whole Friday afternoon in the library discussing ideas. Our collaboration excited me. But teamwork, I would soon learn, meant more than collaboration. The next Tuesday, I pulled out all the photocopies I had made for the fifteen students. I stood in front of the class and began to speak. All the students, most older than 30, listened intently and nodded. Then, they raised their hands. For the next hour, they asked questions and I answered. But I also asked them many things, to clarify and understand their stories, to which they eagerly responded. Their experiences are, sadly, inhuman. But their need to share is the epitome of humanity. As our lessons progressed, it became clear that they needed to possess the vocabulary to tell their stories. That became my job. Together, we created cross-cultural understanding. the talon • 11

college essays

My Creative Side

University of California, Los Angeles Sophia Hajjar

I

don’t have aspirations to win a Grammy, but in my free time, I write music on my guitar. In a time as hectic as first semester senior year, it seems like there is no time to pause for self reflections. However, throughout all my years of high school, I use writing songs on my guitar as an outlet to recompose myself and reflect about how far I’ve come, in terms of academics, friends, family, and clubs.

I write songs on my guitar not only out of my passion for music, but also to map out my feelings in a way that is tangible. When I found out I was moving to Brazil, I went straight to writing songs for the next week to become aware of what I was feeling and in touch with the emotions, and work through them through music.

This skill of self reflection benefits me by bringing awareness to what my own values and behaviors are, and the ways in which I am succeeding and ways in which I could grow. This awareness was important for me when I moved from the United States to Brazil, and had to establish who I was as a person independant of my location.

I also used this to reflect on the past habits I had regarding school in the United States, and how I could use my move to Brazil as a new opportunity to grow in terms of my studies. Although the transition from the AP to the IB programme seemed daunting, I was determined to take advantage of the new opportunity, and devote my effort into succeeding in the program.

Overall, writing songs on my guitar allows me to ground myself in who I am, and my habit of self reflection encourages me to constantly improve myself as a person, and that person has stuck with me 4000 miles later.

Why UPenn?

University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School of Business Breno Sallouti

B

efore 2015, I had limited interest in politics, economics, and business. On March 15th of 2015, however, I witnessed multiple protests all over Brazil, with over 3 million people on the streets. At that time, Brazil was facing a presidential impeachment and was in the midst of its worst-ever recession, one with devastating effects: unemployment soared from 4.9% to 11.5% forcing countless people into poverty. Since then, my passion for politics, economics, and business has only grown. My confidence that spreading financial knowledge is crucial to bettering the lives of Brazilians also grew. The private sector has incredible potential to truly elevate the living standards in Brazil. I believe I’ll work in the financial sector upon exiting university, meaning I have to commit to developing my understanding of finance and economics. This led me to apply to Wharton given the school’s commitment to developing these skills in undergraduate students.

At Wharton, I will have access to the kind of hands-on learning that will prepare me to thrive in the complicated business sector of my home country, one that carries so much risk and potential. Brazilians often refer to our country as “the land of missed opportunities,” and Wharton’s approach of applying simulations of real-world scenarios and group work will mold me into someone who can help change the Brazillian mindset.

If accepted, I plan to concentrate on Finance at Wharton and take classes such as International Banking with Professor Herring.

In this class, I aim to understand the disruptions Fintechs are causing to the financial sector and how they provide opportunities for people with less wealth to experience the positive effects of finance. Fintechs have the power to help the 45 million Brazilians without bank accounts to achieve financial security. In Impact Investing with Professor Geczy, I’ll deepen my understanding of socially responsible investing, building on what I learned during my participation in the KWHS Investment Competition as a result of our ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) based investment strategy.

In order to make educated business decisions, one needs a wide range of knowledge. Penn’s rigorous liberal arts curriculum will allow me build my knowledge on a variety of topics. I plan to take courses such as International Political Economy so that I can understand the role of both state and non-state actors like multinational corporations in enforcing regional hegemony.

At Wharton, I’ll have access to the pre-professional experience that will help me make a difference at home. Penn’s vast resources, student diversity, and sense of community will allow me to be challenged and grow into the type of leader that can return to Brazil and ensure that it’s no longer the land of missed opportunities.

12 • the talon

college essays

Common App. Stanford University

Martin Hoberman

I

exchange my school backpack for my street backpack before running to the Orange Line bus stop outside the McDonald’s. In my school backpack, I leave my computer and notebooks. In my street backpack, I keep a book for the bus (currently A German Generation), R$15 to buy a corn on the cob from a street cart, and my lab coat. With four minutes between the end of class and the bus’s arrival, I’ll have to sprint. I never make it on time, but invariably, with Sao Paulo’s traffic, neither does the bus.

I’m heading to Albert Einstein Hospital, where, in the Ph.D. candidates’ office, Romario is working on his laptop. “Que?” he startles, as I tug on his headphones, my indication that I’m all set to start.

“You ready?” we ask Leticia, our ring leader. She nods: It’s going to be a long afternoon in the lab. *** Whenever my friends ask what I do at the lab, or why I’m so excited to disappear there, I tend to jump straight to the potential impact: I explain we’re working to help doctors in hospitals across Brazil better treat sepsis infections. I monologue them to sleep about how we trace P. aeruginosa’s evolutionary history to help group bacterial colonies by inflammatory response and antibiotic resistance. And, while all this is a major source of excitement, what gets cut from my explanation—out of mild embarrassment—are all the mundane yet outlandish moments that could only ever occur in the lab.

I should start by mentioning how repetitive lab work is: we’ve been repeating the same dozen steps for months. While Albert Einstein has been credited, falsely, with defining insanity as repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, the lab offers a related kind of lunacy: the pleasure of repeating experiments, expecting the same results, yet feeling a rush of emotion each time as if it were the first time. As I work through the foundational steps of our procedure—cell lysing, enzyme inhibition, sequence amplification—it’s as if I were singing along to “Africa” by Toto, following the slow, building melody until I reach the captivating

chorus—an elementary sense of curiosity awakening inside me.

And if that’s one sort of insanity, how could I even begin to describe what I’m thinking about? Simply put, the mundanity of the lab often transports my thoughts to the realm of mad science. For instance, evolving miniature animals—we’ve done it with bonsai, so why not elephants? But then again, those pesky organ systems don’t scale. Or else, plant people, more specifically inserting chloroplasts into skin cells. Yet as crazy as these ideas may seem, these tangents led me to articles on plasmid uptake and introduced me to the concept of negative control which ultimately was the inspiration for the design of an experiment in our most recently published paper. More specifically, allowing us to observe the effect of sublethal doses of antibiotics on bacterial mutation rates, thus highlighting the effect of overprescribing antibiotics on bacterial resistance. *** It’s late when I catch the bus back home, just in time to join the crowd leaving the soccer game. People are singing loudly, and I’m thinking about how to engineer table-top giraffes, or how if we’d evolved eight fingers, we might have adopted a base-eight numbering system. Sao Paulo is a chaotic city—and a city I love—but as I cross the Pinheiros River and stare at the city’s reflection on the water, I’m reminded of how lucky I am to have a place where I can slip into my own world while working to help the one around me. It’s a privilege to find an intellectual haven, and one I’m granted on the promise I’ll use it impactfully. I can only hope to do research worthy of this promise-all the while embracing the absurdities that come with the work.

the talon • 13

college essays

Common App Barnard College

Paula Fernandez

F

amily legend has it that before I ever uttered mamá or papá, I whispered the first three letters of the Spanish word for why. After several days, my repertoire consisted solely of this shortened word, por. Not surprisingly, my family thought Por Paula an apt nickname for me. As I grew older, I took back my name but never abandoned the why. In fact, it only grew.

My life was far from linear. By age 7, I had lived on three continents and my curiosity seemed natural, as questions about each place were a natural requisite of acclimation: Why do the English eat supper at 5pm? Why is French spoken by fewer people than English? Why are there typhoons in the Philippines but not Argentina? By age 12, I was obsessed with the constructs of societies, economies, and quality of life issues, and why such concepts seemed to determine the haves and havenots. This curiosity has empowered me to create connections with people from different backgrounds.

Much like two of my heroes, public health leaders Hans Rosling and Paul Farmer, my interest in exploring the “why” has led me down a rabbit hole of questions about access and equity.

As I moved from country to country, I dragged the por along, like a pack slung over my shoulder. Perhaps, though, I should recognize it as less of an accessory and more of an intrinsic part of myself.

After a privileged primary education in Paris and London, the Philippines was my first exposure to absolute poverty, my first understanding of Maslow’s basic tenets and where I discovered how frequently inequality begets inequity.

It was also in the Philippines that I realized how a single, extraordinary person can institute powerful change.

There, I built a lifelong connection with a Colombian nun, Sister Luz Maria, who runs a home for malnourished, poorly educated, and, in many cases, abused girls. This community was created for- and by- Sister, and its impact on the girls it served went way beyond that of a shelter.

The Holy Family offered English lessons, health checkups, and after a major typhoon, it became a shelter for hundreds of additional children. Every Friday, every Saturday, all day on Sundays, this home was open for me, too. I witnessed our physical home become an extension of this community; our meals grew to be large feasts.

Holidays were no longer focused on our family of four but on how our family of four could make others know accep-

14 • the talon

tance and love. These experiences brought a new por into my mind: Why is socio-economic suffering an accepted status for the majority of the world? When we understand the connection such circumstances have on the other qualities of life, from nutrition to sanitation, are there any innate human values which are truly good?

When we left Manila for our move to Brazil, I was almost immediately struck by the insularity and paradoxes: one president could be “good for business” while also destroying the environment; almost limitless natural resources yet most of the population lives in poverty; agricultural technological innovation is a driver, instead of a limiting factor, for massive Amazon deforestation; immense population growth with no infrastructural investment; the most successful social welfare program on the planet, Bolsa Familia, ended in the largest global corruption scandal in history, Lava Jato. The por in me had a renewed sense of uncertainty and curiosity. I thought about how our perspectives and experiences can either enhance or limit our empathy. Perhaps our aversion to complex problems is rooted in a drive for self-preservation.

Now, it is time for the por to be followed by something greater, a plan to create- and participate in- the solutions. My privilege cannot just be for my own experience. That goes against the natural inclinations of my humanity, a common denominator I now believe is absolutely innate in us all.

college essays

Common App. Boston College

Isabel Paiva

A

s I sit planted on one of many gray bean bags in the room, I watch as smiley-face, heart-eyed and sad-face emojis fly through the air, occasionally striking a distracted film student. One flies its way towards me and lands near my foot, thankfully, my classmate has a poor aim. I send it right back from where it came. The flying emojis don’t affect the discussion about the film’s cinematography in the slightest, and my teacher isn’t fazed. That’s film class. It is not just a subject I take in school; it’s a much-needed breath of fresh air in the middle of a chaotic school day.

Luciana’s film students are an unexpected mix of teenagers.

Pedro, seen as the math and physics genius by the rest of the school, is known to us as the western film fanatic. Laura is known for her assertive and outspoken nature, but to us, she’s the focused editor in the class. Rik is the Soundcloud rapper that no one really understands but he knows sound editing like no one else. And then there’s me, the non-film, film-student. When the time comes to pitch ideas our differences become evident; noirs, comedies, romances—you name it, we pitch it. However, only half of the pitches are produced, which leaves half the class creating a film that wasn’t initially theirs. Although uncomfortable at first, being out of my comfort zone ultimately makes me want to work even harder to create the perfect vision of my classmates. Last year, I was assigned to a film noir, about which I knew nothing, instead of my initial pitch of a coming-of-age drama.

I had to trust in my partner and the vision she had for the film. Although the project wasn’t my initial idea, I learned from her creative process and diverse ideas.

Unstructured is the word some might use to describe our class, however, it is precisely the lack of structure that allows us to generate meaningful ideas, to create. There are times we spend the whole class practicing meditation exercises. With a long blue string of yarn laid out in front of me, I am guided to think about my past and my future, reflecting on the impactful moments over the years, tying a knot

in the yarn to symbolize the closing of each chapter. On a table, a blank sheet of paper and a box of colorful pastels facing me, I draw whatever comes to mind.

These activities give me the time and space to think - crucial for the creation of ideas, both in film and in life. While reflecting, we extract what is meaningful from our life and express it through film. Creating with guidance and depth provides me clarity and understanding of life events. The meditative activities help me to self-reflect as I have never been asked or encouraged to do so before. As a result, I’ve become aware of how dependent I am on others and particularly on my family. When I get to college I want to be more independent.

I want to learn how to drive. I want to become a master chef, able to cater to my picky eating habits. I’ve been given the time to realize these aspects of myself because of the quiet moments; the reflective activities in our film class. Without them, I wouldn’t have thought to stop and simply allow my mind to wander.

Film class has become so much more than a mere IB course.

Picture a room where a random group of people are given the opportunity to become friends, where unstructured is a good thing, and where you’re asked to pause and reflect on your life. This is real; it’s education, it’s meaningful.

the talon • 15

college essays

Common App. Georgetown University

Nadya Marinkovic

“

I remember over a million people gathered to see Dad that day,” my brother told me in awe. “He stood tall in front of the crowd, words praised by roaring applause.” I wished that when I thought of my dad, I saw the same: a leader rather than a political refugee. I never really understood what happened; all I could ever remember was the day he left. Seven years old in slippery socks, I ran down the stairs to the sound of my father coming home. But that day he was sitting at the bottom of the staircase with a small suitcase in his hand, wearing a weak smile and red eyes. My mother was sitting right above him with her hand on his shoulder, silent tears running down her face. “I will be gone for a couple of days, Lutka. Dad will miss you,” he whispered in my ear. I still remember this moment clearly. It left in me a feeling that the world owed a debt to good people forced to go through hard things.

to speak my mind or laugh at my mistakes. I pushed myself to try new sports and persevere through the challenges in front of me. I began excelling among my friends and in the classroom. I learned that public speaking was a talent I inherited, one that allowed me to voice my opinions and perhaps even inspire change.

This sparked my interest in the world around me, motivating me to learn to debate and to write about difficult topics. By becoming grateful for the move to Brazil, I was able to immerse myself in Brazilian culture and embrace my muddied Portuguese accent.

By appreciating the good things I had, I learned to become curious, an attentive listener, and eventually, someone who friends go to for advice. Through being challenged, I learned that dedication and hard work go a long way. Above all, I learned most from appreciating the moments and the people that mean the most in my life.

Leaving home to where my father sought political exile in Brazil, forced me to mature very quickly. I struggled to be positive but the move seemed like a burden rather than an opportunity. I was an overly serious and shy little girl, the type who couldn’t say no to others, who had been taught to be kind. I trusted that I had learned from my father’s mistakes by ignoring politics. I thought it was foolish to stand up for what I believed in, and that feeling soon became a fear of critique. For too long, my identity was lost in that little girl.

I learned many things from my father and the circumstances that found their way into my life. As I follow my own path, I know there will be highs and lows, but I am no longer afraid of stepping into my own shoes and doing what I believe is right. No longer that shy little girl, I will take my strengths, values and open-mindedness to college and through life.

Many years later, my brother’s words pushed me to ask my father a question I had long wondered: whether he regretted becoming involved in politics. Smiling, he looked me in the eyes and said: “No, some things are worth fighting for, even at great personal expense.” From then on, I never saw my dad as a political refugee again. Instead, I saw him as a leader who fought to keep democracy, who spoke words of kindness and belief to inspire millions — someone who taught me to be compassionate and strong and to live out my values, even when it results in painful experiences.

It was then that I became determined to make a change in my life. I suddenly wasn’t embarrassed

16 • the talon

college essays

Common App.

Northeastern University Sophia Hajjar

“

You’re completely radical, Sophia!” my aunt shouted across a crowded but uncomfortably silent dinner table. I felt my relatives’ gazes meet mine, awaiting my usual comeback. This was likely my twentieth visit to Brazil and an even greater number of times sitting at this dinner table, but with each family gathering, I felt increasingly alienated from my family.

“Bandido bom é bandido morto” -- A good robber is a dead robber. As my aunt repeated this phrase used by the newly elected President Jair Bolsonaro, it felt like a lethal bullet, triggering my dismay in a discussion with my family members about Brazil’s criminal justice system. I was bewildered by the fact that someone related to me lacked complete empathy and faith in justice.

Whereas my parents were raised in Brazil, I was born and raised in America, placing my identity in a perpetual tug of war between the cultures of two nations. Growing up in America, meant that its culture and social norms were an integral part of my identity. I was fascinated by the intricacies of its governmental institutions, and passionate about coming to their defense. Regardless of how grave the crime, I defended then and will always defend due process. That evening, my family looked at me in shock. How dare I argue against legal and political systems seeking to redress social issues that had never directly impacted me?

Moving to Brazil in the midst of the 2018 Brazilian presidential election campaigns, I was jolted into a new reality - one where I could no longer walk alone on the streets and one where political discourse was marked by violent street protests and assassinations.

Learning of my family’s experiences with violence, I started to understand the context of the opinions I once discounted and saw how they molded my family’s political beliefs, just as my values and ideals were influenced by my American context. No wonder my aunt favored the harsh punishment of criminals-she was robbed at gunpoint multiple times. And on each occasion, Brazilian institutions had failed in giving her basic security and justice.

I realized the hypocrisy of my behavior. While I once viewed my actions as a quest to advocate and defend my beliefs, I began to notice my hostility toward people with opposing political stances. I used to anchor my arguments on egalitarian values and free speech, but I realized that my disregard for my family member’s opinions went against all of these ideals. Political leanings are grounded in more than a single set of principles, rather, they are shaped by subjective input from social, cultural, and economic factors.

This realization was the best lesson in politics I ever had, but I learned it not in class or by watching the news. Instead, it was wisdom gained from discussions around my family’s dining room table.

The goal of political discourse is not to out-debate, but to allow for the expression of opinions toward a shared consensus. I cannot fight for equality and diversity while shooting down diversity of opinion.

Although my interest in politics was initially fueled by exposure to American institutions and history, my experiences in Brazil opened my eyes to the fact that there are 195 countries with different yet equally complex political institutions.

The plurality of these systems has not only elevated my desire to pursue this area of study but also allowed me to find value in diversity of thought, which I previously neglected because of my discomfort in accepting different perspectives. Next time I have a seat at the table, I don’t wish to be radical for blindly adhering to a belief system. I want to be a radical by learning from the people around me because every voice has value.

As I was preparing to respond to my aunt’s comment,

the talon • 17

college essays

Common App. Lawrence University

Ava Hillman

“

It’s almost six,” she says. We get on our bikes, knowing we need to get back for dinner. After years of this afternoon routine, I could ride the path with my eyes closed, knowing each curve and bump in the road on the way home. We wave goodbye as my friend turns off towards her house and I pull into my driveway and run up the steps for dinner. This night, though, wasn’t like the other nights; sitting around the table in the sunroom, we got the news that we were moving once again. Part of me knew that this would happen eventually, maybe that it was going to happen that year, but I had buried that knowledge in five years of routine. Yet, life as I knew it changed that summer, but not because of the impending move to a new school; as we began packing the house and getting ready to move to Saudi Arabia, Dad’s annual medical exam revealed he had cancer. So, instead of packing to move to a new job and new school, we moved in with extended family in suburban Iowa. The initial plan, which was that we would be there for six weeks while my dad underwent treatment, stretched to six months, and it was during this time that I learned what “family” really means.

For as long as I can remember, games have been an integral part of my family, and until that summer, my description of family was quite simple: two parents and three kids sitting together around a game of cards. So, when we moved to Iowa, we brought with us the evening family question, “Shall we play a game?” However, it was now a question addressed to a group of ten instead of five. When I look back on that time, what I remember most is not visiting my dad in the hospital, or my mom leaving ahead of us for her new job. It isn’t my oldest brother leaving for college, or my younger brother and I starting at an American school with an aunt and uncle taking on the roles of mom and dad. What I remember most is the time we spent together on the soft carpet by the fireplace playing games. It was during that time that my understanding of family grew to include more than the four immediate members. Cousins became siblings, aunts and uncles became parents, and Iowa

18 • the talon

became the place I called home because I loved the people I was with. I expanded my family there, and they have stuck with me ever since. The simple habit of playing games taught me how to love and be with the people that matter because it was never really about the games we were playing; it was that we were together.

Over the past five years in Brazil, I’ve realized that a family is much more than brothers or sisters; a family is made, it is created, and that happens through the time we spend with the people who matter. It can be ten minutes chatting in a hammock after school, or an entire week away with my teammates for a tournament; laughing together, playing together, winning and losing together. The time that we have spent together makes us family. I’m about to move once more, this time to college and, for the first time, I’ll be moving on my own. The future is filled with uncertainty and change, but I’m not afraid. I am moving with the knowledge that something as simple as a card game can build bridges and create lasting relationships. I can take with me the confidence that wherever I go, I will make a home.

So, thank you, Phase Ten. Thank you, Scrabble. Thank you, basketball, Parcheesi, and Gogglebox for showing me how to make any place a home, and how to build a family with those around me.

college essays

Common App.

University of Pennsylvania Maya Wainstein

ooking down at our hands, I observed the similariL ties between my grandfather’s thumb and my own; a simultaneous view into my origin and future. Grow-

ing up, I would hold Vôvo’s hand as he told stories about his father, a Russian revolutionary, who fought for his countrymen’s socio- economic justice, but was forced to seek refuge in Brazil as antisemitism increased under Stalin.

Listening to my great-grandfather’s trials, I felt indignant at the injustice he had suffered, but I also sensed his fire, courage, and action- attributes I seek to possess. Since then, whenever I hold Vovô’s hand, I feel my Greatgrandfather’s power flowing through me. I feel it, too, whenever I see injustice.

During my freshman year, the Syrian war and the ensuing refugee crisis reached a peak. Every day, as I read horrific stories, I would sense the same indignation I felt listening to Vovô’s stories. I knew then that I had to act-to do something, anything. As I thought about the Syrian refugees in São Paulo, I realized the opportunity. Although I’m Russian by blood, I see myself as Brazilian; I love cooking “brigadeiros,” can recite Brazilian funk songs by heart, and cry and sweat discussing Brazilian politics. I’m proud to be a fourth-generation immigrant, and I want to share my country with those in need.

That summer, I developed an action plan, utilizing the tools of social change that I had gained from a leadership program. The initiative would help integrate refugees into Brazilian society through Portuguese lessons that encompassed Brazilian culture. I called it Bem-Vindos (“Welcome”). For the next six months, I researched immigrants’ rights, tracked refugee issues, contacted local NGOs, and recruited teachers, students, and parents as volunteers. I organized training sessions, with speakers from refugee NGOs in São Paulo, university professors who specialized in immigration, a community representative who shared about Arab culture, and a teacher who taught us the use of music in a language learning environment. These sessions helped us build a global context and a practical understanding of how to plan the classes and interact with the refugees on a personal level.

Initially, we sought to focus on Syrian refugees, but found that they resided on another side of São Paulo.

However, during outreach in our own community, we found a higher need for support among Haitian and Venezuelan refugees, who had fled to neighboring Brazil after suffering from the natural, political, and socio-economic catastrophes in their home countries.

Over the next few months, I got to know several of our language students, and their stories showed me much about human resilience. I learned that, after the destructive 2010 Haitian earthquake, Marie came to Brazil alone, like my great-grandfather, with the hope of saving enough money to bring the rest of her family here. As I taught Marie Portuguese, she taught me infinitely more: she showed me the power that lies within each of us and how we can find the strength to move on. Her positive response motivates me to strive to be as strong as she and use that strength to do what is right.

Another student, José, an elderly Venezuelan, deepened my understanding of the fragility of socio-political structures, but also the interconnectedness of our modern world. In his wise, humble tone, he shared about the political situation in Venezuela and how his experience showed him how we all belong to a global community. Nonetheless, he also spoke about the need to ensure individuals’ rights and for the international community to increase engagement. Listening to him, I felt moved to work on these issues because of our moral obligation to each other as global citizens.

The other day, I held Vovô’s hand again, and the similarity between our thumbs is more evident. I can still feel my great-grandfather’s power, his sense of justice and action, in Vovô’s hand and now in mine, too.

the talon • 19

college essays

Common App. Vanderbilt University

Laura Egan y father lives his life in shades of blues, and my M mother only knows fuchsia. Yet, for most of my life, I was unsure of which color I wanted to live in.

Was one color enough? What if I chose the wrong color? In search of a single color, I discovered myself in a palette.

In middle school, I was red.I wore bright colors and spent hours creating collages with over-edited pictures – high saturation, photoshopped hearts with extravagant fonts. At school, I spent hours in the library reading comic books.

At home, I created graphic novels. I cut socks into gloves and shaped shirts into headbands. I was bold; I was red.

As a high school freshman, I lived my life in green. I took a step back from the spotlight to observe the world as a wildflower among the tall grasses. Photography filled my spirit. The red bulb in the developing room revealed nuanced black and white shadows in the wideangle landscapes of rivers and lakes and in the void and solid of urban architecture. In an attempt to experience oneness with the world, I focused not on myself but on my surroundings. Yet, I wasn’t taking many risks. My art became repetitive as green began restricting me.

As I transitioned into 10th grade, I became neon pink. Long into the night, I worked on my art. Splish, splash, done; feverishly creating. Art took over my life. I began taking risks; attacking gendering and poverty through my art. I embraced unexplored media to create my vision of a new, better, just society.

Clay, sand, and charcoal were all present in this new phase. Pink pushed me to create, to own my art, to speak my art. I thought I had found my color.

11th grade came around, and I became purple; a mix of pink and blue.

A summer program in marketing intensified my exploration of gender. I began investigating advertisements and analyzing language. Often a background color, purple is frequently forgotten. And so, in junior year, art was no longer in focus; rather, it became a complementary, blurred tone. Still, art always made its way back into my life – guiding my discoveries and discussions. Questions such as “What colors express

20 • the talon

which feelings? What colors inspire confidence? What colors create doubt in the viewer?” were strewn across my research. Purple led me to branch out and appreciate the intersectionality of life.

As senior year began, I realized, at last, that I could live my life in more than one color – I can live in the fullness of the color wheel. Much like the mantis shrimp, I explore, live, and see the world around me in the entirety of the color spectrum.

I’ve created a color palette with the colors from my past. From red, I learned to trust and believe in my work.

My observant green period taught me to take a step back when analyzing situations, to give others the stage, and to own my space. Embracing neon pink encouraged me to take risks, inside and outside the classroom. I find myself speaking up in discussions and trying out new ideas that do not always work. And finally, purple helped me focus on others and reflect upon my choices.

I pick up the colors of my life onto my palette. Holding my brushes, I think about where I’m headed next.

My canvas is blank; it is waiting for the colors to speak my new stories. I begin.

college essays

Why UCM?

University College Maastricht Rosanne Van Ballegooijen

U

pon entering the renovated monastery, I was captivated by the energy that the University College of Maastricht has–a simple building, but filled with creative history and academic answers yet to be discovered. Going to the Experience Day over the summer proved that UCM is an amazing place for me to grow as a person and all-around learner.

I met enthusiastic students there, as well as welcoming professors, who played key roles in creating a positive atmosphere for me. That is the kind of learning environment I want to find myself in when I go to university, as I know it will motivate me to try hard and perform my best.

The Experience Day also introduced me to the problembased learning style which UCM utilizes. As a student who loves class discussions as a way of learning, problembased learning intrigued me, especially as it offers students both the opportunity to create close relationships with their teachers and peers and to think critically and openly about a multitude of topics.

UCM is an honours college.

In school, I have always challenged myself and worked to achieve the best that I could do, and I believe that UCM will allow me to develop as a learner. Not only that, but I feel ready to take on this challenge due to my thorough preparation in the International Baccalaureate diploma program. Either way, the plethora of classes that UCM has will keep me engaged. With three, highly developed disciplines, it seems UCM has many options to explore. As a student in school, I was never able to pick a favourite class: all the disciplines interested me. Thus I got excited when looking at the UCM course catalogue, knowing that they cater to all my curiosities. Classes such as ‘Great Novels 1850-Present’ and ‘Brain and Action’ already offer me a wide range of subjects to study, and the overlapping of subjects also allows me to make connections that will enhance my perception of the world.

different sectors within the subject before I do so.

In regards to what I expect of a college education, the first thing that comes to mind is my family. My father went to university but he was forced to study what his parents thought would be best for his future, and my mother never got the chance to; as someone who is fortunately receiving both opportunity and choice, I want to make the most out of it. Education has the ability to positively change the world in countless ways, and I know I want to take advantage of my fortunate position to use what I learn about psychology and other subjects to better the world.

Another aspect of my college-education philosophy, is that I do not want to finish my bachelor’s degree knowing all the answers.

Instead, I want to be able to ask more questions, look around and ponder the workings of our world.

I believe a college education should teach me how to think critically and blur the lines of my reality, rather than focus and restrict it. And I believe that UCM’s honours, PBL-based program will let me do that.

Finally, after graduating from UCM, I see myself completing a masters degree in my chosen psychological focus, to ensure that I have an in-depth understanding of my subject of interest. After this, I am looking forward to entering the psychological world, conducting studies to learn about people and using these results to work with others to find ways to best help those who need it.

The University College of Maastricht is a place that strongly speaks to me, and I know that if I were admitted, I could speak to it too.

When I am thinking practically about graduation and what my future holds, helping others is the most important to me. Through my IB Psychology HL class, I have discovered that it is through this subject that I want to achieve this.

Psychology is an area that never ceases to spark my curiosity and feed my caring nature, and seeing that UCM offers ‘Cognitive Neuroscience’, ‘Economic Psychology’ as well as ‘Literature and Psychology’ shows me the many number of directions I could go in with psychology. Considering that I have not made up my mind about what I want to do within psychology, this variety will allow me to learn about

the talon • 19

college essays

Common App.

University of Southern California João Aguiar de Souza I was born in Brazil but only became Brazilian when I moved an ocean away from São Paulo to Zürich. I was still gaining proficiency in my native tongue when I started watching SpongeBob in Swiss German. By the time I returned to Brazil at age 10, my newly set foreign eyes exposed me to a reality that I had previously failed to see: brutal, pervasive poverty. A seed of political awareness was planted in my conscious.

I was born in Brazil, but only truly feel Brazilian at my grandma’s farm in Minas Gerais. There, I learn the way of the Brazilian fazendeiro. I ride my horse, Pampão, try on a strong Mineiro accent, and follow a man named Baiano, one of the ranch hands.

With him, I feed, milk, and round up the cattle. Here I know my neighbors and feel something new, community. In São Paulo, in a building of 25 stories, I don’t know a single one of my neighbors. This lack of community is the result of the political realities that keep people apart based on race and class, that house some in favelas and others behind bullet-proof glass.

I was born in Brazil, but only felt Brazilian when I took part in protests to influence the future of my country.

I was 14. Alongside millions of other Brazilians seeking political change, I took my demands for an end to corruption and greater democracy to the streets of São Paulo. My small contributions transformed me.

At 16, I was a campaign volunteer for a gubernatorial candidate in São Paulo. By age 17, I became an intern to a Congressman in Brasília working to increase opportunities for small businesses tied up by a bureaucracy rife with corruption. I wanted to bring pride to my fellow Brasileiros and Brasileiras who can perhaps barely remember the last time they cheered for Brazil outside a soccer stadium.

Now 17, with a plastic congressional page ID around my neck, I walk through the halls of the national congress. I have been charged with helping to distribute funds to the small town of Salto, SP. The mayor, a 63-year-old man, and I discuss the city’s need for vast and sustained investment in infrastructure. It’s

22 • the talon

a humbling moment to be given the opportunity to help sixty thousand human beings. As we speak, I feel the lightness of the ID around my neck, and the heavyweight of responsibility to be worthy of it. Even more profoundly, I start to see a new type of “doing politics” emerging, one where individuals are motivated to pursue a career to help their fellow citizens and not simply to personally enrich themselves—a far too common story in Brazil. My dad used to say that 99% of Brazilian politicians are corrupt. Now he says it’s slightly more. Yet, I disagree. I see a Brazil where a forgotten mayor of an overlooked town and an idealistic 17-year-old have been given a voice.

But how will my voice bring others together to act, to change, and to help Brazil?

How will I use my past experiences and my time in college to make a difference? These questions do not yield a single or simplistic answer. Yet, I am certain of one thing: there is never a single moment or an endpoint when a country or person realizes their full self. I remain in a state of becoming, always striving to be the best version of myself, always dreaming of a Brazil that is a better version of itself.

college essays

Common App Babson College

Joseph Vartanian

I

’m in Ms. Gili’s room after school. Mom and Dad are leaning forward, paying close attention as she speaks. She seems to be saying something very important, but I am observing a bird through the window behind her. “Joe is such a bright student, but...” she says. Just at that moment, the bird takes flight. I am transfixed by it and lose track of her words. “...he confuses 6 with 9…” The bird exits the frame of the window. I pick out the word “specialist.” *** When I was eight years old, I was diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. I’d always had trouble focusing in class. My brain was constantly making connections, mixing up the important ones with the trivial ones. I had great ideas, but they would enter and leave my brain like the strangers I observed walking up and down the halls of my school.

After my diagnosis, I was put on medication. The drugs helped me to focus, but had side effects.

Some of them took my appetite away; others gave me allergic rashes and mood swings, limiting my ability to socialize. If before I was making too many connections, now I wasn’t making any.

In 7th grade, I started to turn things around. I learned to handle my medication better and opened up socially. At my school’s optimal learning center, I set small, everyday goals that, over time, made me more focused and productive. I was proud of the grades I was earning, which only increased my desire to learn.

On the first day of high school, Principal Fernandez set me and my classmates a challenge: “Who are you as an individual at Graded and what will you do to improve our community?’’ I thought back on all the patient support I had received over the years from teachers, doctors, and learning specialists. My economics teacher, Mr. Pierce, particularly inspired me, helping me find passion in what I was learning. It was time to give back.

Minds, a career-focused student project designed to inspire the Graded community through engaging seminars. We wanted to help students connect with the mindsets of business leaders and politicians.

Fabio Coelho, the CEO of Google Brasil, was our first speaker. Planning and organizing this inaugural event was a huge task. The launch event turned out to be the day President Lula was arrested. Students were arriving late; tension flowed through the room. For a moment, it looked like the news might overshadow our event.

But João and I took charge, settling the crowd and shutting the doors. As Fabio started talking, I sat back in my seat and watched a dream come true. Over the next six months we planned and executed another successful seminar, led by the youngest state congressman in São Paulo: Daniel José.

While I am proud of the work I’ve done with Like Minds, now I want to make connections with fellow students who live with ADHD and Dyslexia. I am in the final stages of planning an after school project that will bring these students together. Over the years, I’ve learned how to communicate my needs and experiences to teachers and doctors, and I want to help other students navigate these crucial conversations. I also want to open up a discussion around medication, which has had such a strong impact on my life in good and bad ways. Medication is often a taboo topic, but students like me need to be able to discuss it.

As I enter college, I will strive to continue making meaningful connections both in and out of the classroom, diving deeper into the topics of economics and business and raising awareness of the challenges faced by non typical learners. I’ve already come so far; I can’t wait to take the next step.

I opened my idea faucet and started making connections. With the help of my friend João, I created Like

the talon • 23

in twenty years

In Twenty Years...

Predicting the Future of the Class of 2020 (It’2 0ur Year!)

The Talon’s Senior Staff João Aguiar de Souza: Soon after moving to LA, João’s personality completely changed. Once wanting to work in Faria Lima and join Novo to run for president, he came back transformed: a tree-hugging, granola munching, and state-loving-democrat. João got married after returning from college and had a low-cost honeymoon at Yellowstone National Park. Soon, João filed for a divorce, as he could no longer stand the “green lifestyle.” He missed his favourite restaurant “Nino” and its maître Ivan; he missed being a capitalist. After a classic overthinking moment, he decided to go back to his initial ideals and work in BTG. He met a new woman in Bagatelle, married again and had 4 kids. He loves trips to Aspen but always spends time in his Fazenda in the countryside of Minas. 20 years later, he finally decided to run for president as a clear-favorite, so vote for him soon!

André Auriemo: After finding the cure of the notorious Coronavirus, André slept for an astounding 19 years and 364 days. AFA, moved to Seattle to work with his man Bill to secure a prosperous future for mankind. Together, they accomplished a great deal: world peace, 3D michelin star food printer, lunar colonization, and of course they acquired the 6 stones needed to assemble the Infinity Gauntlet. On the side, André was also crowned the best “casual” Call of Duty player of all time with a K/D ratio of 570.4. He was later named by his friend Donnie - the 45th president of the USA - as the first Commander of a new branch of the United States’ Armed Forces: the Space Force. André finally retired and spent the rest of his days in his palace in Orlando, living a restful life with his brothers Lucas and Rafa and his infamous flame thrower gifted by his buddy Elon.

Rafael Anargyrou: Rafa’s stay at Vanderbilt was very brief, deciding the real college is life. He travels the world, growing his social media status through pictures of swimming with sharks in Fiji and bungee jumping in the Andes. However, his lifestyle limits his access to what matters most to him: sneakers. Consequently, Rafa creates an app that sells hype clothes and connects the international hype community. Using this, Rafa spam-invites Travis Scott’s to parties on his yacht in Greece. After getting blocked, however, Rafa settles for Young Thug. Every few years, Rafa disappears, making everyone wonder whether he met a new love interest at Zara Kids, joined Joe Exotic’s zoo, or was just tired. Rafa had three children-- Dwight, Michael, and Creed-- and considered settling down and following in the footsteps of his idol, Walter White, but decided to keep travelling, honouring the Anargyrou family’s “cool dad” tradition. Although Rafa’s life constantly changes, his vacations in São Miguel do Gostoso with BFF Gedson are permanent.

Tomasso Benazzi: After COVID-19, Tommaso finally moves out of Baroneza and heads to Italy where he finally releases his true italian self. After two-weeks, he proposes to a classmate, but to take things slow they just moved in together. To impress her, Tommaso overcame his fear of fish and chicken, finally accepting that it wasn’t the chicken… and realizes he did not need his Happy Pen to be happy. After Bocconi, Tommy becomes a successful businessman, and you can often hear the echoes of “Eh Isso” after closing a business deal. Tommaso is soon happily married, still making pasta with Francesa, and keeping buckets all around his house, all while taking his children Fettuccine and Ravioli to soccer practice in his minivan. However, after losing an UNO match, Tommaso threatens for divorce, but after calming down announced “brincadeirinha” and resolved all issues. Still living in Italy, Timmy now spends his summers in Brazil playing chanchova, and reminiscing his time at São Miguel do Gostoso.

Belen Angelini: Belen smoothly adapts to USC, joining Kappa Beta Theta and becoming indispensable as the house’s RedBull representative. Her psychology classes, however, are rigorous and challenging, so she tries pursuing her other passion–makeup–by participating in James Charles’ Instant Influencer reality show. When she fails for not making her smokey-eyes smokey enough, she commits herself fully to her academics and gets kicked out of her sorority for being a workaholic. However, she receives her graduate degree in psychology and PhD in siblings’ psychology, after having much experience with siblings in HS. She starts her own clinic and wins over her clients with her signature catchphrase “at the end of the day...” and her famous brownies (because if they can’t express their feelings they might as well eat them!). After a lifetime saying she was born in Italy, she finally decides to visit. There, Belen meets her one true love–an aspiring stay-at-home dad–and together they raise five beautiful children and three dogs.

24 • the talon

Mariana Blay: After entering on the honor roll at Bowdoin, Mari ultimately drops out to marry a billionaire who lives in New York. As a young 20 year old, Mari is living a wonderful life, yet the daily shopping and brunches don’t cut it for her. After hearing Kanye is launching his 2028 presidential campaign, she is able to charm her way into being his campaign manager, and, as his twitter boasts, she was the sole reason for his election. This wasn’t the main reason for her massive Instagram following though; instead, it was her fashion that caught the eye of millions. The online attention causes her to make her own political (mostly communist) fashion line which rivals Versace at fashion shows.

Apart from living six months in NYC and the next six in SP, she is still going back and forth whether to have kids or not. Ultimately, she decides to move to Greece with the rest of Trinity, where they start their band: Mari and the MS.

in twenty years Alessandra Braun Luzzi: When Ale starts at Northeastern, she meets one of the most popular DJs in Boston at her freshman mixer, and she posts videos with him on her Instagram stories. She gains so many followers from this that she quits college to become an official Influencer. Her job allows her to take yearly trips to Mykonos to compensate for her forgotten senior trip, as well as become a master omelette chef, calentando huevos being her specialty. Her jet-set life doesn’t leave time for a wedding, so Ale happily elopes with her HS sweetheart. She misses her home city, however, and moves back to SP, where she raises her kids and tells them stories of her time “no Portugal”. Ale decides to use her influence for good and returns to “Casa Maria Helena”, raising awareness and helping cancer patients. In her free time, Ale is a successful ‘mommy blogger’. 20 years later, she is still posting stories of pasta at MoMa Osteria and churros at Adega, as well as sending her early Christmas family cards to her friends with AG escapularios as presents.

Aliza Cazes: At college, Aliza starts her new life double majoring in psychology and design. After breezing through college, Aliza fulfills her dream to live in NYC. There, she starts her career as a therapist and uses her kindness to gain a large list of clients. Her love for fashion, however, is not forgotten. In her down time, Aliza works on her designs. However, a master overthinker, she is never able to publish anything, all because she’s not sure which colour, thread, pattern or button will look better. Frustrated by her lack of a fashion career, Aliza ends up using her clients as her therapist, and when that doesn’t work, finds herself a gorgeous husband to spend the rest of her days with.

When her grandkids come along and see her designs, they love them, however, and encourage her to found the Cazes Clothing line, which earns prime slots in European Fashion Week shows and is loved and worn by many worldwide.

Elizabeth Ceballos-Rivera: After spending the next few years going through around 35 different hair styles, Liz finally settles on the bald-head look. Liz spent her time at college making and posting obscure memes before forming a band. While on her world tour, she recognizes one of the ravers in the crowd and ends up reconnecting with Anna Mariani. She stops her tour and decides to work with Anna to create films that go on to win awards at the Cannes film festival. Liz decides that films and music just weren’t enough, and so she produces and stars in several plays including her one-man show, “The Divorced Widow”. With her wild make-up and her eclectic costume choices, not to mention her award-winning acting, Liz makes enough from the show’s sales to retire, and was last seen through her livestreams, rating and reviewing Anime.

Jessica Chang: During her first two years at Syracuse, Jessica grew tired of attending all the parties in her efforts to compensate for the events she missed during highschool.

After graduating, Chang got the chance to design Graded’s 2040 Renovation project. Since her entire family was yet to graduate, she took the job. Her incredible work was awarded the Woman of the Year prize in Architectural Digest, and at the ceremony, she met her one true love. After discussing their aspirations to have a very big family, the happy couple got married a month later. It eventually became impossible to continue architecture after she accidentally

became Graded PTA’s President during a unanimous vote.

After years of arduous work, Jessica decides to quit and her frustration leads her to her only solution: baking red velvet cupcakes. Chang’s franchise cupcakes earned her a fortune and she spends the rest of her days hosting themed Saturday brunches at her beautiful penthouse apartment.

Christophe Sung: Wei spent his years at Reed diving into philosophy and asking life’s big questions. After graduating from what was more like a spiritual retreat than college, he moves into a small house with three pieces of furniture, one of which is a bookshelf that holds his massive collection of books. His photography career is challenged by existential crises until he realizes they stem from his attempt to make money off his passion, so he drops it and returns to taking photos for himself. Instead, he becomes a university professor who gives lessons based on the one lucrative book he managed to publish during college. After years of inspiring minds, Wei retires in a minimalist cabin in the woods, spending the rest of his days reading and thinking out in nature.

Pedro Choo: Pedro became the most well-known person at Emory University due to his ability to predict NBA stats with an astounding accuracy. No one but his friends back at Graded knew the real root of his abilities: playing too much of the NBA video game. His skills in business caught the eye of many investment banks, but he turned them all down to continue his passion for basketball. Being a little too short to be on the court, he found another way to get close to the action: becoming the manager of the LA Lakers! Many teams for many years tried to get him to switch over, having seen his talent, but he remained loyal to the Lakers for his entire managing career. After feeling fulfilled, he retired from city life to live in his house in Baleia permanently, where he lives with the two Gabes and Pedro, and soon they gained a reputation for throwing the best parties.

Pedro Civita: After graduating summa cum laude from Stanford University, Pedro Civita, now known as Mista LeBron, lives humbly in his New York City Crosby loft with his wife. It strikes his old friends how he does not work, but instead is a stay-at-home husband serving his family - he is a true paradigm shifter. In a spin of events, Pedro has a change of heart and decides to live with his lost soulmate: Ned. Together, they move to Australia and open a small store of vintage T-shirts. His business yields amazing profits which, unfortunately, are lost due to his investments in psylo shop-br. Years later, Pedro drops everything and decides to have a sabbatical year, searching for the true meaning of life. 20 years later, Pedro lives in an MST compound fighting for the rights of the homeless. Every Sunday, Civita returns to his home in Avenida Paulista and roams the avenue asking for donations for the various minority-rights NGOs he is part of.

Ned Cope: After Ned’s gap year plans fall through due to Corona, he turns his full attention to Mario Kart, with the goal of being the world’s best. Throughout his journey to the top, Ned gains a lot of social media presence, and creates a new category, pushing the boundaries beyond the edginess of e-boys. He realizes that he’ll never reach his goals sitting at home, so decides to spend a year living in

the talon • 25

in twenty years Japan where he can be immersed in the culture. While grappling with the idea of eventually going to school, he participates in a cosplay event where he impersonates the life of an 18th century woman—cooking, gardening, sewing—and realizes that the whole idea of school is just a concept, but it does make him reminisce about his high school days. So, he legally changes his name to Johnny Virtues, and channels inspiration from Civita and gets a perm.

He spends the rest of his days posting cryptic instagram stories of places around his farm.

Marcelo de la Maza: After graduation, Marcelo left for Chapman to earn his degree in marketing. While his classes were tough, he was able to use his Mexican charm to breeze through. He then had more free time, which he filled by getting back on YouTube. This time around, he was able to keep his channel up and running, frequently posting videos of his college adventures. He got invited to participate in many YouTube conventions around the US, and there, met none other than David Dobrik, who asked him to take over his place in the vlog squad when he retired.

Marcelo happily accepted, and spent the rest of his days introducing Americans to his Mexican culture. After many years of crazy videos and some broken bones, Marcelo decides to settle down with his wife, whom he met while being treated at the ER after a motorcycle stunt went wrong.

They get a dog, named Ron Jr., a travel round with their all-boy family.

Kate de Wind: Saying goodbye to Graded and Brazil was hard, especially after having to leave her beloved horses behind. However, after successfully getting a college degree in the US, Kate couldn’t take it anymore and went back to where she owes all her happiness: her horses. One day, after she is done competing and collecting yet another gold medal, she is approached by a representative for the Brazilian Olympic team. While shocked at first, Kate takes the opportunity to be the leading rider for the team in stride, and is able to help the team earn a record number of gold places for the Brazilian team. After a few more years of these successes, Kate decides to settle with her horse-riding husband on a fazenda in the Brazilian country, only a short ride from São Paulo city. She spends her days taking care of her lovely animals whilst enjoying weekend brunches with her family in sunny cafés.

Anna Clara Dias: Though she had a very wild time at ESPM, Anna Clara’s life had only gone downhill since her famous festa de quinze: #AC15. She tried to pick herself up by launching the Cambucci brand and even moving to Beverly Hills, but nothing seemed to get her out of her severe mid-life crisis. The only solution was to start supporting GMO babies and give birth to 10 girls altered to LOVE festas de quinze. As soon as her eldest turned 15, things skyrocketed for AC. Year after year she was throwing festas de quinze, fulfilling her life’s passion. Her husband was so supportive of her, he let her label their wedding anniversary #AC15anosdecasamento. Everything was great until her husband became bankrupt from hiring the best DJs every single month. To get her and her family back on their feet, she delved into the world of event planning. To organise a night to remember, google AC on Instagram with the hashtag #AC15.

26 • the talon

Alexandra Drouin: After moving to Rotterdam to study Psychology at Erasmus University, Alex soon spends less time learning, and more time in the uni’s dance studio.

There, she joins the local hip-hop group, and she becomes the club’s leader. The choreographies she creates are incredible, and her troupe ends up competing in global tournaments, gaining fame, and get asked to dance on Beyoncé’s upcoming world tour. After a year of travelling, she returns to Rotterdam to finish her college career, but she finds that adjusting to the student life is hard, and she turns to painting to deal with everything. That, paired with her new degree, propels her back to São Paulo, where she works as an art therapist for teenagers. Finding that life a little too laid back, Alex eventually closes her practice, moves to France, and opens up a chain of Brazilian-styled clubs, which keeps her busy till the end of her days.

Laura Egan: Laura got severely depressed after leaving Graded, but once she graduated from Vanderbilt she was finally on the path to success with multiple job offers. However, she had a change of heart and decided to pursue her life’s dream: be a famous influencer. She planned the perfect wedding to her college sweetheart at the Vanderbilt Chapel, but her commitment issues got in the way and she ended up leaving him at the altar. She joined several reality shows trying to find love, only to eventually go back to her college sweetheart. He asked her to marry him (again), but she decided that it would be best if they spent the rest of their lives together without a proper “label.” The two moved back to São Paulo so she could be where her heart had been all along: Graded. She lives happily as the PTA president, driving her six kids everyday to and from school.

Paula Fernandez Musso: After having a very exciting time at Barnard, discovering the NY nightlife and best spicy-tuna sushi restaurants, Paula graduates with a major in engineering and medicine and a minor in finance because she could not make up her mind. However, she is influenced into joining the investment world and quickly rises up to Partner position. After reevaluating her life decisions during one of her 4am showers in leather pants, she officially changes her name to “Fermus” and decides to move back to Argentina where her daily naps were more acceptable and where she can give back by working in public hospitals. Frustrated with the lack of organization of Argentina’s public health system, she decides to organize it herself and becomes the Minister of Public Health. She finally splits her retirement between her summer home in Punta with Cleo, Brazil, and Nashville where her memories in the “honky tonk” stick with her forever.

Ian Fernandez: Although Ian arrived in the US thinking he could better the world through science, focusing on mixing physics and chemistry, Ian’s life took a turn when he was scouted swimming against his military-trained brother in Lake Michigan. He then joined the army and finessed his way to the top, using his smile and random jokes to do so. In fact, once Ian joined the US army, world violence decreased by 85%! Unfortunately, the pressure to get it to 100% hit him too hard and he stopped his military career to become a part of a better community: the Star Wars fan club. Soon enough, Ian spent his days posting backstories on his world-famous blog: StarWarsLovers4Life. Thus, he earned an invitation to the coveted StarWars convention,

in twenty years where he ran into his Princess Leia, whom he married and had a couple of StarWars-loving babies with. He can now be found updating his blog and swimming in the lake near his Michigan cottage.

Cami is recommended an ad for a job as a taste tester for Betty Crocker. One click later, and she is happily spending her days eating frosting of all kinds, and training her kids in the do’s and don’ts of the delicious topping.

Stefano Formicola: Coming back from CMC after an astounding 3 weeks of class, Stefano, or as he calls himself: Platinoia, fulfilled his dream of being accepted into Insper.

His 5 amazing years in engineering school flew by through constant trips to Tennessee to visit his dream girl, weekends in Itu with Marquito and Moooon, and partying in Capri with THE Bologna Brothers. Although he loved his new lifestyle as one of the best engineers in SP, Stefano, from one of his seven phone lines, could never move on from texting Maju every day. Tico still finds the time to gossip about his issues, his physique, and the ladies that are after him. 20 years later, Tico finally became at peace with his inner self and spends the rest of his days jamming in indie bars in a constant state of trying new things.

Adrieli Silva: After university, Adrielli decides to stay in the city of São Paulo, which she loves so much. Originally, she was going to go on and study psychology and help people heal their minds. However, she decides to heal their minds through another way– music! Throughout high school, Dri was known as the “Rainha do Funk”, and thus she spreads her musical knowledge and power across the country. She spends the rest of her days going to music festivals, concerts, and bloquinhos, hyping up everyone at her favorite funk events and showing off her amazing dance moves. By going to so many events, she keeps getting projected on the big screens, and her enthusiasm gets her scouted by agents, who book her as Anitta’s back up dancer. 20 years later, after a long day of performances, she listens to her favorite funk songs to help her fall asleep every night.

Pedro Foz Caltabiano: After arriving at UCLA, Pedro thought he was going to get a solid degree that could get him through life. However, as he was playing his saxophone in the UCLA dorms, the sound travelled out the window and over campus, all the way to a music manager from a high end LA record label. The manager runs over to his dorm, and Pedro signs a label with them, drops out of college, and travels all over the country, playing his infamous jazz riffs for large crowds. His sparkling career comes with many perks, and he uses them to help his brother and sister to expand Lê Comigo from Brazil to a global organisation. While hosting a book fair in Denmark, Caltas meets the love of his life, and together they travel around for years to come. When people stopped recognizing him on the streets, Pedro and his family settle in SP, and live their days happily listening to his old records.

Luiza Medeiros: From the moment she arrives at UAL, Luiza falls in love with London. She spends her college years exploring the city’s art galleries, gathering inspiration in the hopes of one day opening her very own. Once out of college, her dream comes true after receiving widespread attention from the photography she posted online. Her gallery is a combination of all her interests: art, music and of course, cats. People from all over the world come to view her gallery, where rock music fills the room and cats roam freely. Although photography was her true passion, Luiza feels the absence of playing music in her life, so she decides to form her own heavy metal rock band. While searching for band members, she comes across her soulmate and together they begin playing small gigs around London. In 20 years, Luiza is living in her London mansion, decorated with all her esteemed artwork, and teaching her kids the difference between different types of rock.

Camila Giraldez: Saying goodbye to Santi was hard, but after leaving Emory with a hefty degree in her pocket, they reunite and move to New York, where Cami began her career as a lawyer. There, she expands her selfie library from 3 to a 1003, and spends her days ordering Starbucks coffee and walking into Jazz clubs, all while sassily working her way to the top of her firm. After a mighty career and a beautiful family, Cami realises that she wants more in life.

Through Instagram’s amazing advertisement algorithms,

Thomas Greco: Upon immediate arrival, Thommy gains fame by befriending Kim Kardashian and Britney Spears at a Nobu Malibu lunch. Thommy studies hard, though, and earns his medical degree at Chapman. After watching Michelle Obama’s speeches, he feels inspired to make a positive change, and considering that even Nicole and Paris lived through the Simple Life, he signs up for Doctors Without Borders. However, upon arrival, he realizes he forgot his signature perfume, and returns to Newport Beach.

Instead, he becomes a notorious celebrity dermatologist, and is scouted by E! to have a reality TV show. He buys a mansion on Zillow and styles it with two afghan hounds wearing golden “TG” chains by the door. In his humble abode, he hosts the ultra exclusive Greco Golden Gala.

Following his idol, Paris Hilton, he launches his own line of everything–snickerdoodles mix, hair product, hoodies–and expands the Greco empire. He lives in Newport beach, but continues visiting SP for Ibirapuera park stories and Kitchin dinners.

Sophia Hajjar: Sophia thrives in UCLA, embodying the Cali surfer aesthetic and resurrecting her hoodie collection. She embarks on a semester abroad in Venice, but once she arrives, realizes it was Venice, Missouri. She hosts “bailes” to spread what she believes is the true Brazilian culture, and finally learns Portuguese. After many nights playing “Banho de Chuva Rave”, Sophia falls in love with her baile’s security guard. Tired of carrying the burden of having deep blue eyes, Sophia uses brown contact lenses, and decides to make a real change. She enters law school, bringing along her security guard boyfriend. Hajjar becomes a highly successful lawyer, being too busy to actually pull through with the Arab feast dinner invitations she promised her friends.

She joins Kim K’s lawyer group to fight injustice, but continues her devotion to convicted rappers. She was last seen in a 6ix9ine’s party with an empanada de carrrrrrrne in hand. We have lost track of her whereabouts since.

Victoria Hernandez Gomes: After starting med school at PUC-Sorocaba, Vicky quickly realized she likes Grey’s Anatomy more than the real deal and dropped out. As a med school drop-out, all that was left for her was to pick up her synchronized swimming career again.After spending

the talon •27

in twenty years countless hours training to represent Brazil in LA 2028, she realized it wasn’t what she wanted either. She returned to her apartment in Bela Cintra to open a nightclub and her own franchise of Bottega Bernacca. She met her husband at her restaurant opening and embraced the alpha-woman lifestyle in her relationship. However, he was opposite to her in all ways; calm, quiet, and not a partier. This seemed to work out for the best, however, helping her get closure over her past relationships. Now she lives her life happily, having a star reputation in São Paulo’s nightlife.

Taiga Higashide: Not long after college, Taiga found out he was immortal. He had just celebrated his 754th birthday, and yet he had the face of a 25-year-old. At this point, after numerous birthday celebrations, he had forgotten when his real birthday was. He tried to check his birth certificate, passport, and all other documents, yet each seemed to have a different date. Once Taiga was finally at somewhat of a stable job, scientists showed up on his porch and took him to be examined. He became famous as the immortal man whose birthday was pretty much every day and earned a fortune appearing in interviews and as a special guest at children’s birthday parties.

Ava Hillman: After giving in to the pressure of the Track & Field coaches at Lawrence University, Ava joins the running squad and ends up becoming a local Appleton celebrity.

Her new found status catches the attention of multiple all-American boys, yet the one supporter of the Minnesota Vikings is the one that gets to take her out. Their number of dates to her favourite spot, the cinema, gives her a Cinemark Lifetime Achievement Award, paired with a neverending voucher to watch movies to her heart’s desire. After graduation, with a degree in Environmental Sciences, Ava realises she misses the Brazilian lifestyle, especially after she quits her vegetarian lifestyle. She and Brad move to the vibrant city, getting over their gringo accent, and she is hired by Graded staff to coach the Varsity Basketball teams. After Ms. Roy finally retires, Ava is asked to fill in her position, and her laugh was last heard in the science offices, accompanied by that of Ms. Hughes through FaceTime.

Victor Jun Ho: When Vitinho arrives in New York, he adapts into the city life like it was made just for him. He finds cozy cafés, the best night clubs, and loves his economics classes. In one of those, he is assigned a project to write a business plan and campaign for it. Being the kind soul that he is, Vitinho devises a stellar happiness campaign, which moves beyond the NYU classrooms. The New York Times acknowledges him as one of the youngest, most successful businessmen in NYC, and he’s voted “Best Hugger of NYC”.

He sells his business, however, gets his NYU degree, and after graduation, becomes a Wall Street banker. Feeling bored and reminiscing his PGC days, he brings baked goods to work everyday. His cookies, brownies, and muffins are an instant hit, and he quits his job and opens up a bakery.

This change works out for the best, and he now lives with his highschool sweetheart, baking his days away.

Martin Hoberman: Martin sets off for Stanford and leaves Graded in his rearview mirror, ready to expand his scientific knowledge and change the world one biological laboratory experiment at a time. After his freshman year, however,

28 • the talon

it seems the student becomes the teacher… His end-ofyear investigation leaves the entire Science Department at his prestigious school in awe, and once published, earns him international recognition for his breakthrough. Needless to say, a few years later, Martin graduates summa cum laude. While he receives various research opportunities around the world, he remains in the California area, and freelancers between the various Fortune 500 companies there, connecting biology and technology in innovative ways. While Martin thrives here, he misses his home life, and decides to bake empanadas. The smell of the pastries wafts to Silicon Valley, however, and suddenly his house is crowded with hungry people. Using his connections, Martin grows his empanada bakery, and he spends his life happily eating with his family.

Paula Holzheim: At UM, Paulinha falls in love with the Miami lifestyle, going on daily walks in Lincoln Road and tanning with Ju on her weekly visits. A devoted fitness guru, Paulinha does pilates daily, but is unable to end her candy addiction. Tired of American sour candies, she becomes famous for a candy contraband ring, smuggling 7belo from Brazil. Overstressed due to the lack of free blocks, she buys a one-way-ticket for a quick visit to São Paulo to destress, but ends up staying. Enrolling at ESPM, Paulinha spends most of her time at the cervejadas instead of classes, after her parents finally allowed her to leave the house at age 22. After throwing coffee on three more of her exes, she meets her soulmate and realizes that it’s better to just throw water. With her psychology/business degree, she opens a beach club in her true home, Juquehy, and enjoys a calm life by the sea, eating açai and growing a garden of succulents.

Rafaela Horle: As soon as she managed to get her degree at Emory, she moved into Mari’s apartment in NYC and finally meets Stevie Nicks. She realizes she already peaked, freaks out, and dates Chad: an all American guy who golfs and fishes. One day, however, while riding the subway, she runs into a tall, skinny dark-haired boy who stole her heart.

She ended up not getting out on her stop to follow this man. They eventually arrived at an art gallery promoting her longtime BFF’s Za’s work, where Rafa decided to “shoot her shot”. They got married “somewhere in Northern Italy” and opened a fashion store together in London. Eventually they moved to the suburbs and had her 3 boys, Mason, Jason, and Grayson who are on a strict vegan and glutenfree diet, yet secretly eat brigadeiro everyday. Since the 3 boys were a lot to take care of, Rafa leaves them with her husband and decides to move to Greece with the rest of Trinity, where they start their band: Mari and the MS. Bernardo Kahn: After graduating college in political science, Bernardo finds himself overwhelmed with opportunities. However, he struggles to decide on a job offer, and chooses to go back to Venezuela and spread his political views. He finds a home in an isolated beach in his home country, and starts writing the book that would change the course of his life. A year later, the book on his political views earns him millions in all of South America. His star reputation makes him famous within the elite of Venezuela who approached him as a potential presidential candidate for 2030. Bernardo is determined to change the broken

in twenty years ruins of his home to the once booming oil-rich country that it once was. After two very successful terms, Bernardo is able to get the Venezuelan people out of poverty with a number of public policies inspired by Mr. Pierce. Today, Bernardo is considered one of the most prominent political figures in the world.

Samuel Kahn: When Samuel arrives in Boston, he thrives in BU’s latino atmosphere and is known throughout campus for his strong political opinions. Thus he decides to start his own club for the “real republicans”, and soon enough becomes an important political voice on campus. However, after graduating, Sam is not happy in the United States, and decides to follow his plan to go back to Israel. There, he joins the IDF and serves an additional 4 years to the required 2 year service. He feels at home and happy to be part of the IDF. Remembering his Graded and BU days, Samuel always gets into heated arguments with his superiors, just for the debate. After those 6 years, he moves back to Venezuela, where he is pursues a career in Business, gets happily married, and has two kids, both of whom share the same ideals as their father.

Lys Kang: After successfully getting through highschool with amazing effort and results in all classes, especially Chemistry and Physics, Lys is once again surrounded by her typical indecisiveness, and struggles to make a decision on where to go and what to study. After graduating from university with 3 degrees, in Physics, Computer Science and Biochemistry, Lys has a prominent career in front of her.

Yet, surrounded by job offers, Lys decides to follow the unconventional path, one that is dear to her heart: a professional horse-back rider. Winning gold for Brazil in the 2040 Olympics, Lys sees that all her dedication since childhood has paid off. Today, she can comfortably live with her 12 dogs, including the two genetically engineered grandkids of her favorite, Pipoca, and owns the biggest stable in South America.

Gabe Katz: Post graduation, Gabe studies sports management at NYU, living the dream in his favorite city. He spends his days going to any sports game he can, staying behind afterwards to meet the players and score them as future clients, and his nights growing his DJ career with his iconic stage name: DJ Shalom. After earning his degree at NYU, he founds his own management team, and quickly has a large, high-end client list. It turns out his DJ career and height intrigued many players to sign on. Also, Katz’s business slogan is “Give Big, Earn Big,” as an homage to his Graded days. One day, when Stephen Curry has a fallout with his manager, Katz seizes the opportunity. Curry is hard to convince however, so Katz challenges him to some basketball shooting. After beating the legendary player by shooting 3’s nonstop, Curry is added to Katz’s impressive list. In 20 years, Gabe is proudly meeting with players and watching games with his family.

Heesun Kim (Alice): After being a part of the amazing Rhythmic Eagles at Graded, Alice knew that her dance abilities were what would lead to her success. At university, she starts her dance team called “Alice and the Dancing Machines,” which gains so much recognition that they go on to do international tours and win hundreds of competitions. Even with her dance team’s success, Alice still

manages to earn her hospitality degree from her dream university. With the prize money she’d won from all of her competitions, Alice opens her own hotel named “Hotel Kim” in the middle of Times Square. In this prime location, it becomes the most popular hotel in all of New York City, known for its phenomenal entertainment, particularly the live performances of Alice and the Dancing Machines’ dinner shows.

Diogo Klabin: One month after moving to New York, Diogo could no longer bear being far from his day-to-day São Paulo luxuries: 24/7 personal secretaries - AKA “The Marcias”- dinners at Makoto, and weekly haircuts with Thiago (his brother-in-law). He soon returned home and reencountered his dear friends Renata and Jorginho, both of whom had gifted Diogo with much happiness during his teen years.

Together, they decided to venture into the Entertainment industry where Diogo soon became - as he would say - the “Mat Farah” of nightclubs. His success generated him tons of wealth and he was included in Forbes’ Top 30 Under 30 - one of his bucket list goals. 20 years later, Diogo, AKA the Brazilian “Lord Farquaad”, lives in Pantanal and would spend the rest of his days as a professional bird-watcher and an activist for small men’s rights.

Felipe Lati: Four years after leaving the São Paulo social scene, Lati, in his new role as a banker, roamed through the halls of Faria Lima 3400 greeting his colleagues - Tio Dedé and Tio Tutinha to name a few - and had weekly lunches with the girls in “Olea.” Soon, “Fe” began to miss his socialite lifestyle and decided to drop everything and sign up for Big Brother Brasil. After 3 months of intense gossiping, Lati won BBB40 and was an overnight celebrity!

He was invited to join the real “Gigantes da Resenha” and invested his R$1.5 million “BBB” prize in his career as the most successful promoter in town alongside his old friend, Lucas Bizarro. Weekends in “Baro,” Fridays in Vila Mix, and vacation in Mykonos, Lati lived up to his dream of being in a constant “Farra!” After his days of glory, Lati settled down with Pietra - his childhood best friend - had three wonderful children and a pomeranian named “Simba Jr.” Peter Gihyeok Lee: After Peter leaves Graded, he struggles adjusting his sleep schedule. Distance learning was hard from Korea, and caused him to be awake and asleep at the most inconvenient hours. The hardest change, however, was saying goodbye to his high school sweetheart.

When he goes to university, he spends his time studying hard and succeeding in school, but mostly he is calling her, updating her on his exciting new life in the US. After he graduates, Peter goes and travels around the world, before ending up in Korea. There, his direct nature and global experience allow him to work his way up to the country’s President. In 20 years, Peter and his long-time girlfriend get married. Additionally, missing his Brazilian roots terribly, the pair move back to SP, where they raise their kids, and Peter finally gets around to changing his name from Peter to Pedro.

Luiza Sommer: After leaving Graded, Luiza returns to one of her favourite places: Holland. She works hard and graduates with top grades from Erasmus University, and joins many sustainability clubs. Her weekends are spent going to the beach and saving the turtles , and her weekdays are

the talon • 29

in twenty years busy diving into international relations. At her college graduation, she gives a speech, and using her killer smile and business attitude, a government official approaches her. While it only takes her a few short years, she is soon working as the leading ambassador for Brazil in the Netherlands. Now she frequently travels, visiting her family on her trips to SP whilst basking in the esteem of her job. In a twist-turn of events, her plane to Brazil has to stop over in NYC, where she runs into her highschool sweetheart. They reunite and move in together, and she switches her ambassadorial position to that between the US and Brazil, living happily everyday.

Alejandro Liberman: Two years after leaving the Goma, Alejandro felt a strong urge to reencounter the love of his life. Libão soon returned to SP, where he spent many sleepless nights driving around the Jockey surroundings, viciously searching for his lost love. When his hopes were down, he would remember the butterflies he felt when he first saw this wonderful creature illuminated by the colorful lights of Villa Mix. Years later, in one of his legendary 13-hour sessions of CS-GO with his boy André, Libão decided to take his routine run in the local “praça” and found his lost soulmate. The reencountered couple promised to never spend a single moment apart from each other. They moved to Lib’s father’s farm in Jamaica where they lived happily ever after with their cat named “Travas.”

Rafael Lima: After managing to graduate from university, even with over 500 tardies, Rafa was excited to move onto the next phase of his life. Having grown up in the church, he wanted to go back to his roots by performing in one last show–the nativity. Of course, the greatest love story ensued between Rafa, who was cast as Joseph, and a sweet girl playing the Virgin Mary. They were a perfect match and quickly got married. After feeling like this was a sign from God Himself, Rafa swore to become a priest at the church he grew up in. But Rafa still had big dreams of playing for Corinthians, which he managed to do after all of his years of practice. One fateful day, old high school buddy Kevin hits him up. This leads to this iconic IB film duo creating the major motion picture, Rafa Lima: Priest By Day, Soccer Star By Night.

Bruno Madrid: One day Bruno went to a restaurant, and the waiters immediately gave him a bunch of delivery orders for different people. Before he could complain, he realized that what his friends had said was true… he did look like a Rappi driver! He decided then that he could make a great living off of being a Rappi delivery driver instead of going to college, and so he divides his time between delivering meals to different homes and gaming. He especially likes the 4AM pizza and New Dog runs, delivering them to several teenagers’ homes, as many times he is even able to join in on their late-night fun. He reigns as the best Rappi employee for years on end, which eventually leads him to climb up the ranks at Rappi, finally settling on spot as CEO of the company. He uses his new position to create a Rappi video game, which earns him millions, and he was forever known as the man who revolutionized Rappi.

Maju Magalhães: Once Maju settles in at Penn, she lets loose and goes off the rails. Inspired by TikTok stars, she dyes part of her hair blue and starts going to every event

30 • the talon

she is invited to (especially tailgates for games versus Yale). Finally surrounded by smart attractive men, Maju stops going on secret dates and instead becomes very public about her various college relationships. Once she enters the financial market and becomes a big figure, she is ready to settle down. Maju thinks she is over red-heads until one day while strolling in one of NYC’s many Whole Foods, she bumps into one of the boys she knew from the Penn vs Yale games. It is love at first sight. They get married at Boa Vista and share the spotlight on the cover of Forbes as the youngest billionaire couple. Eventually, they have 8 baby boys and each of them end up going to a different Ivy league school.

Lucas Marangoni: While Lucas intended to go to university, his various internships keep him back in SP. As he works on Graded’s Archive, he finds himself mesmerised by the tales teenagers that attended Graded in the past 100 years. Paired with his own experiences, Lucas writes an astounding screenplay that rivals all about teenage life. In an unexpected turn of events, his stunt as an IB Film lead actor lands him the protagonist his script. He becomes known as the most multi-faceted artist in the film sphere, receiving nominations for Best Lead Actor, Screenplay, Director, Cinematographer, among others. Universal Studios picks up on his talents, and signs a never-ending contract with him.

Needless to say, his movies were international sensations.

Yet, he couldn’t help feeling like something was missing. At a promo event, he accidentally bumps into a girl strolling around. Like in those romcoms he watches, initial disgust turns to love, and unforeseen events eventually lead to their ever-lasting love.

Anna Mariani: At NYU, Anna is ready for new adventures and leads an eventful life, meeting all of her film idols and famous artists (including but not limited to Kate Bush). After getting her degree in Film and Visual studies, Anna uses the NYU setting to launch her career, and quickly turns into a well-known hip indie movie director. After seeing her work, Fiona Apple asks her to create all of her future music videos, earning her multiple prestigiou nominations.

However, Anna soon realizes that despite the fabulous underground clubbing scene and amazing film opportunities, she misses her gay rave friends back in SP. Upon her return, Anna reunites with her high school bandmates, and drops her film career to play live shows around the city (while still going to raves 4 nights a week). Although she was invited to the Oscars and Grammys several times, she refuses to go because it’s “too mainstream”. In 20 years, her beliefs haven’t wavered one bit.

Felipe Marin: Marin’s initial plan was to go to Argentina to pursue a degree in engineering. However, in his first year, he realised he was spending more time on Clash of Clans than on his actual work. His skills on the app, amongst others, gave him recognition by game developers world wide, and eventually he was able to drop out of college and travel the world, testing iPhone games and earning millions in the process. This jet-set life was getting tiring, however, and eventually Felipe went back to one of his favourite places, Juqeuhy, running into his highschool sweetheart, Paulinha.

They rekindle the romance and Felipe is able to live his life either at the beach, or watching the latest teen TV show (he swears he only watches it because Paulinha does).

in twenty years Nadya Marinkovic Dauelsberg: Although it’s hard saying goodbye, Nadya leaves Harley behind in São Paulo to start her new adventure in Georgetown. There she thrives, joining the investment group and winning national prizes for her successful entrepreneurial start-ups. Through her academic success, however, she is still able to go clubbing with all her latina friends, dancing to reggaeton every night. Nadya changes her major from Business to Law, and uses her degree to trademark the phrase high key. This kick starts her career, and gives her heaps of attention. She uses her status to land clients such as the ABC Network and is able to meet all The Bachelor contestants in person. By the time Nadya’s mid-30s roll around, she is comfortably settled in Bolivia with her 3 kids (an older son, protective of her 2 daughters) and husband, who was awarded People’s Sexiest Man of 2027 as well as one of Forbes’s Top 30 best Investment Bankers.

Gabriel Matsumoto: A proud lifer, Gabe finally leaves Graded to start at Fordham. After accidently packing one of his girlfriend’s platform sneakers to NY, thinking it was his, he discovers the magical world of heels. Using the skills of his business course, he launches his own male platform sneakers line, abandoning his famous pontinha. Tired of the cold, Bananinha returns to his Rio home, perfecting his carioca accent and returning to his natural wardrobe: redinhas and MYK glasses. He expands his business to chuteiras with heels and befriends his idol, Neymar Jr..

Together, Menino Ney and Gabe conquer Rio’s nightlife, establishing close relations with GBR. Nevertheless, in his 30s, Gabe still struggles to get into clubs and Felipe remains a starred contact on his phone. On one night out, he meets his Garota de Ipanema and soon they marry and have 11 kids, enough for Gabe to have a personal soccer team he can manage and excuse his limitless stock of toddynho.

Rodrigo Mattos: After moving to New York to attend the prestigious Parsons School, they officially “lezaram o Mattos.” 2 years later, Digo concludes that school was not the place where he could save the environment and practice “arquitetura sustentável eeeee.” Therefore, Mattos decides to return to his home, Rio de Janeiro, where he can partake in his favorite pastimes: “Praia, minazinha, breja, aaaaaa.” Alongside his brother, Rodrigo joins an architecture firm, but this venture soon comes to an end as the Mattos brothers become hypnotized by the urge to party.

With their old friend Gui Santos, they open a nightclub that they not only managed but also lived in. 20 years later, Mattos – following the footsteps of his father – becomes a successful investor and invests half of his nightclub profits into Loubet Stocks™. He now lives with his wife and kids in the luxurious Laranjeiras condominium, where he lives a calm life and enjoys an eternal supply of Loubet’s goods.

Lucas McDonnell: After high school, Zibu has big dreams to do one thing: get rich. At university Zibu takes a page from the book “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying”, as well as “Business for Dummies”, and manages to become the top of his class. This gets him the job to become a top notch investment banker where he gets on Forbes Billionaire List. How did he strike rich, you ask? By investing in McDonalds, purely because he thought it was funny the company was named his last name. Due to his

immense contribution to Wall Street, a statue of Zibu was erected next to the Wall Street Bull. Even with his financial success, he still relies on telling all the girls in the clubs that he lives in “The Hills” and gets beat up by his little brother, Teeby, no matter how rich he gets.

Caiuá Moreira: After graduating from Graded, Caiúa finally feels free from the sharp constraints of the oppressive capitalistic environment he was surrounded by. This gives him the mental clarity to write down the hundreds of philosophical ideas he had been sharing on his Instagram stories. Scared he was going to lose all of his handwritten work, he decides to work his ideas into rap songs. He writes, sings and produces all of his original work, which earns him international acclaim. Preferring the Brazilian life, however, he declines all offers of international tours and instead moves into a humble apartment on Avenida Paulista. By day he runs a busy tattoo parlour which sells only his original drawings, and by night he performs for many of his local fans. At the Class of 2020 reunion, many classmates reported still hearing him question society’s practices.

Clara Mikellides: After earning a fancy chemistry degree, Clara decides to stay in the Netherlands after developing a deep love for Dutch pancakes and the beautiful greenery where she can walk her dog, Blackie everyday. Soon after graduating, Clara is offered an opportunity to help figure one of the world’s biggest chemical mysteries: finding the origin of the alpha effect. While it required long hours of work, her intelligence and perseverance allowed her and her crew to reach an answer for this chemical mystery.

Her work earned her global recognition, and soon her unmatched talent was recognized in the scientific community. She doesn’t accredit her work to her studies, however; to her, it’s all because of her sketching. “Doodling and coffee,” she says, “are the answers to everything. How could I solve the world’s mysteries without them?” Clara lives her days with her increasing army dogs in her cozy house, with her 2035 Nobel Peace Prize for Chemistry sitting on the shelf.

Isabella Moraes: Despite her best efforts, Za ends up as a broke freelance artist that gets TikTok famous and makes most of her income out of Bang Energy drinks sponsorships.

She gets an office job at Disney but decides she’s too much of a free spirit and decides to stay in London. Inspired by one of her favorite TikTok stars, the walls in her apartment are completely coated in doodles. Having stayed in the UK long enough, she began having a thing for ginger men, though she will never forgive herself for that. After years of not worrying about it, her metabolism finally slows down and she is forced to cut down her daily sugar intake by half. She gets married, has kids, adopts more kids, spearheads a company, and is finally mentally stable.

However, she soon reverts back to her roots and decides to move to Greece with the rest of Trinity, where they start their band: Mari and the MS. Pedro Moretzsohn: After having spent his last years of high school in sunny Brazil, Pedro was more than happy to return to the cold North he had so dearly missed. Finally, he didn’t have to keep blasting the air conditioning just to live in his natural habitat; he could merely open a window.

the talon • 31

in twenty years However, his neighbours have sent in noise complaints, due to his epic Spotify rap playlist consistently playing on full volume. Not much has changed for Pedro. Even 20 years later, he is still partying like he used to in his old college days, still getting asked how tall he is or “what’s the weather like up there” anytime he goes out. Unfortunately, it’s not all been great, considering he lost all of his friends since he wouldn’t shut up about the Raptor’s 2019 Championship victory. Pedro did manage to settle down with his trophy wife, Charli D’Amelio, and spends the rest of his days coaching his 5-year-old son’s basketball team.

Xandão Nascimento: At Pepperdine, Xandão gets involved in the theatre department. He strongly encourages putting on Annie, after his role as Daddy Warbucks was never seen live at Graded. Afterwards, he uses his IB Theatre skills to direct and star in Pepperdine’s biggest musical yet, Cats, taking inspiration from his own cats Jake, Cake, and Jade.

His performance was positively received, ending his artistic career on a high note. Xandão then went on to pursue his greatest passion: changing the world, one Brazilian at a time. When he returns to SP, however, his plans crumble when Mr. Boerner awaits him at the airport, holding a sign reading: “COME BACK TO GRADED, WE NEED YOU!” His enthusiasm and smiles seemed to have left its mark on Graded. Xandão accepts Mr Boerner’s offer, and runs the Graded Scholar Program. His first day back, he notices that everyone is wearing his iconic red flannel with a pair of blue and yellow sneakers. 20 years later, they still do.

Felipe Ochman: After being accepted to the prestigious FGV university, Figo had a change of heart and decided to spend his “golden years” in FAAP. He graduated in the Class of 2030, and soon married his highschool sweetheart, accomplishing his dream of obtaining the “Verdi” last name. Bizão missed most of his law classes due to late nights with Marcela, yet passed the BAR by gathering legal advice from his idol: Harvey Specter. Part-time lawyer, part-time social influencer, Figo baptized himself “Alvaro Garnero III” and proceeded to open the hottest restaurant in town: Betina’s. With his brother, Fernando, and his son, Wlad Jr., Ochmoney spent the rest of his days attempting to befriend Neymar Jr. and prove himself worthy of being a “Peixe Grande.”

Gabriel Osla: After graduating, Gabe moved back to Virginia where he focused all his time on what he loved doing: cartooning. He spent the summer in his parents’ basement drawing, taking breaks only to eat Totino’s Pizza Rolls, do fingertip pushups, and meditate. He then went to Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Arts, where he perfected his techniques. There, he posted a pilot for his animated series on YouTube as one of his class assignments. The video, which he accidentally set to “public”, went viral and was seen by Justin Roiland, the creator of Rick and Morty, who contacted Gabe to complete the season. Soon, Gabe’s creative genius was recognized, and he can now be found surrounded by animation assistants who do all the boring work. Gabe lives in an Orlando mansion, and was recently pictured in Cephalopod Aficionado Magazine, wearing his famous squid hat, a reminder of a traumatic hike over the sand dunes of Lençois Marheneses in his younger days.

Isabel Paiva: Bel thrives in the BC atmosphere. In an

32 • the talon

effort to hold onto Graded, she joins the Varsity Soccer team, and throws post-game house parties at her fabulous apartment. However, Bel soon realizes that she misses her army of dogs back in SP too much. This encourages her to take bi-monthly trips home to see all the new pups. Her attendance rate, however, drops drastically, forcing her to restart and switch to a new major: Film Studies. Wanting to stay in the Boston area, she pursues this as a masters at Harvard, where she finds her soulmate. They make many films together, yet their most well-known project was a Netflix docu-series, titled “Through a Dog’s Eyes” which earned her millions. Bel then uses her fortune to start her own club, 7BEL, right next to Café de La Musique. Bel now lives as a successful entrepreneur in Guaruja, eating Zete’s famous torta de brigadeiro, surfing in the mornings, and managing her club at night.

Simon Park: After graduation, Simon went on to work hard and earn his multifaceted tech degree, giving him skills in all areas of technology production and manufacturing, coding, and data processing. While this seems like a lot, to Simon, this was a piece of cake. By day, Simon was chilling in classes, by night, playing ball with his college team.

One day, while Simon was spending his downtime fiddling with his computer codes, he accidentally breached the US government firewall and gained access to millions of confidential documents. He used this to his advantage, and was able to gain the position as a top-tier analyst in the US government. Eventually, Simon realised that his job was taking away from his quality time with his dad. He moved back to São Paulo to spend more time with him, and lived the rest of his days in perfect tranquility, designing futuristic computers with his wife and teaching his kids the power of technology.

Pietra Pilão: After one semester at Syracuse, Pietra couldn’t handle her homesickness anymore, and came back to Brazil to study fashion at FAAP. Although she never intended to follow her mom’s steps, one day Pietra received an interesting message in her DMs: a clothing company wanted to sponsor her and they offered something she just couldn’t resist: a family of 10 Pomeranians. Pietra knew her mother wouldn’t be happy, but her care-free younger husband insisted she took the deal. Together, they worked to make the perfect advertisement. As Pietra gained popularity online, the feud between Tia Tati and Pietra’s husband heats up. Pietra ended up becoming a famous model, taking away all of her mother’s job opportunities and fame.

Camila Pricolo: Cami finally settles on King’s College after a two-year gap, but those years were key for her to turn her life around: she is a decisive morning person on a green smoothie diet. She fits the London vibe perfectly, and is able to successfully pursue her degree in clinical psychology. At a young age of 30, Cami makes a name for herself as a therapist, yet her clients see her as a friend, venting to her whenever school gets rough and talking through boy troubles with her. This gives her too many flashbacks about her own high school days, however, and she moves away to the seaside town of Brighton to clear her head and connect with her soul. Drinking tea in a cute café one morning, she runs into her favourite vlogger, Zoella, and adopts her as a mentor. She kick starts her own YouTube career, and spends the rest of her life never quite getting through Gone Girl.

in twenty years Sofia Pricolo: After graduation, Sofia was ready to enter the Scottish culture at St. Andrews. She was able to consistently wear her Scottish pants, and bought a pair of black boots and a chunky, trendy coat to go with it. After the initial fashion excitement wore off, however, she decides to move back to South America with her degree in Sustainable Development. One day in Buenos Aires, after a dramatic meltdown in the supermarket, she is scouted by a Soap Opera Casting Agency, and decides to give up her position as manager of the local NGO for a leading role on Argentina’s most popular soap. Sofia realises she missed acting, and moves to LA and London, varying between stage and film acting. At the Class of 2020’s reunion, Sofia notices that the Graded Theatre Department is declining, and jumps in to help out, finally breaking her 20 year spell that The Giver was her “last show at Graded EVER.”

ever she loses her way, he simply yells out, beats his chest, and swings from the vines towards her.

Mariana Porto: Mari’s reputation as a triple-athlete follows her as she joins her university’s athletic teams. Although studying to become a doctor, she is awarded for her procrastination skills due to her ability to remain top of the class while also beating the Guiness World Record for TV watching. However, Mari decides that she has to take a gap year and transfers to Navarro to fulfill her dream of winning a cheerleading competition. Taking home the 1st place at Daytona, Mari finally returns to SP to finish her degree. After years of working as one of Brazil’s most notable doctors, she sees that 5SOS were finally back on tour. She buys tickets immediately, but disaster strikes when Luke Hemmings falls during the show, and as the closest doctor on sight, she treats him. Luke falls head over heels in love with her, and the two spend the rest of their days happily ever after, watching movies, singing 5SOS songs, and learning cheer routines.

Rafael Roane: After graduation Rafa moved to Holland to pursue science in Eindhoven. Whilst there, however, he’s still tired, yet can’t seem to fix it. He finally decides he is tired of being tired all the time, and rents out a lab to look for solutions. After writing notes for days (only filling up a small notebook with his tiny handwriting), he accidentally falls asleep in the lab and knocks over some of his chemicals. The chemicals react and when he wakes the next day he finds a purple mixture. Still drowsy, he drinks the liquid and remains awake for the next 10 years. He sells his creation to the US government for billions, and spends that money on expanding his war memorabilia collection, obtaining his prized possessions: a series of WWII planes, the P51 Mustang, HE 111, B17 and BF 109. Rafa lives peacefully for the rest of his days with his wife, fluffy dog, and kids whom he sends to a German-speaking school.

Bia Ramires: After many years of cursinho, Bia was finally accepted to Einstein’s medical school and successfully becomes an orthopedist, despite having beefed with most professors. However, having grown up playing handball, she can’t leave the sport behind, so she becomes the official doctor for her beloved club, Pinheiros, treating olympic handball athletes. With her magical medical skills she cures every injury and makes the athletes ten times stronger. Amongst these major career successes, Bia still manages to raise her 15 children. Due to the intense pressure of her career, however, Bia decides to have a total career change to get away from the city. She moves to her house in Riviera to become a surfer and spends the rest of her days tanning on the beach as her beachy-wavy hair lightens in the sun.

Felipe Ramires: After graduating, Lipe decided to give up on university and live his true Tarzan fantasy, growing out his luscious brown locks a meter long and moving to the Amazon rainforest. He spends his days zooming through vines in the Jungle. Even in the jungle he manages to be the party animal he always was, hosting late-night banana fests with his gang of gorilla’s, and is dedicated to maintaining his single life. Although living his primal life is enjoyable, he still misses his good ol’ handball days and so he creates the Amazonian Handball League to play with all the monkeys in the forest. He also misses his twin sister, though, so he makes an effort to put on his normal clothes whenever she makes her yearly trips to the Amazon. When-

Amanda Rechulski: Right from the start, Amanda stood out among her peers in med school. Her experiences in her high school and college years inspired her to become a liver doctor. She quickly rose to success and became known as “Dr. Rechulski”. Her parents were proud yet her father started to envy her as multiple news articles started referring to his daughter as “Dr. Rechulski” and he lost what was once his iconic title. Having earned a lot of money from her medical career, Amanda got inspired by the TV show “The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes” and bought 12 houses all around the world. Although they all have very different architectural styles, they share one common piece: BIG DOORS.

Henrique da Rocha Azevedo: After graduating, Rik decides his time is better spent making music than learning useless material at college. However, after some writer’s block, he takes a leap of faith and goes anyway, solely for “the experience”. Greek Row parties, lots of heartbreak and wild adventures with his friends give him enough inspiration for 2 new albums. Yet, he refuses to release them because “they’re not done”. After college he returns to SP and runs into his HS sweetheart, Camy. Together they move into a little tiny apartment near ESPM. Deciding to take a quick break from songwriting to film, he realises that he never found an actress for Amy’s Grave, and after some more searching from which he returns empty handed, he decides to trash the project. His frustration about it finally gives him the push to finish his album, which is heavily praised. He was last seen in an LA mansion with Camy, teaching their 5 kids how to play guitar.

Noah Rosenblatt: Throughout her years at Syracuse, Noah was the life of the party but, at the end of the day, she always found herself writing poetry for her blog. After college, she proceeded to write every day, yet the blog would not take off. Meanwhile, she had trouble finding “the one.”

After a wild night, Noah returned to her NYC loft and sat down to write, only this time she decided to write about her night out. For some reason, the post instantly blew up, and so she continued to write about the strange men she encountered. The readers’ personal favorite was the guy who wore white jeans!

the talon • 33

in twenty years Tanisha Roy: After graduating from Graded, Tani moves to England to pursue her medical career. While most finish such a challenging course in around 6-10 years, by finally cutting back on parties, Tani is able to focus all of her attention on studying and completes her studies in a mere 3 years. At the ripe age of 21, she gains attention as a worldwide phenomena with her skills as a doctor, and quickly becomes a household name, having clients booking her years in advance of an appointment. The pressure being the best gets to her, however, and she leaves her European homes behind to come back to Brazil. There she starts a new, calmer practice, all while regaining her reputation as a partier. Her new lifestyle suits her much better, and with her husband, she is able to spend the rest of her days in comfort, constantly coming up with new and improved procedures to save many more lives.

Alexander Rubens: After starting his semester at UMiami, Alex realises that the ‘biggest flirt’ tag he earned at Graded doesn’t seem to play over well on the American girls.

While he earns his business career, Alex simultaneously gains a large following on his Twitch account, switching the time he spent flirting for streaming time. He is known to play every game under the sun and even wins various tournaments. Upon entering his 30s, however, it is hard for Alex to keep up with the younger crowd. Thus, he finally puts his business degree to use, and, upon meeting his soulmate online, decides to start his own online dating app. It’s so successful that he is able to live care-free in his Miami mansion with his beloved dog, Charlie, 3 kids and beautiful wife.

Edmond Jacob Safide: At Babson, Edmond always felt tempted to let Ede-Cachorro -his alter ego- out. He graduated without turning in a single assignment due to a loophole he found in the college’s handbook. Ede-Mangueira returned to his “love temple” in Higienópolis, where he rediscovered his famous catchphrase “A FESTA TÁ ANIMAL, MERMÃO” which commercialized and earned him millions.

He invested his small fortune in his marriage, which was held in the same place where he met his three fiancés: Savanas Spa. In a spin of events he fled to the luxurious yet affordable “Suíte Nativas” in Trancoso. Ede-doMangue converted to catholicism and became the priest of “Quadrado’s” Church. 20 years later, his whereabouts are unknown.

Gianlucca Salles: Gian begins to attend school here in São Paulo, but after a week decides college isn’t worth it and so he stops going. One night, at a jazz bar, he runs into none other than Rafael, the trombone clinician at the Graded Jazz Festival! Rafael invites him to join a travelling jazz band, and he immediately accepts. They travel the world together, and Gian gets international fame for his very loud solos that always seem to work. Due to his height, he is coined the nickname Gian(t) Steps by his fans.

After a long run of touring, he settles down again in São Paulo and impulsively decides to buy another house, which he converts into a jazz club. One day, the love of his life walks into his club, and together they make music at their home until his dying days, when he gets put in the Jazz Hall of Fame alongside his lifelong idols.

34 • the talon

Breno Sallouti: During Quarantine, Breno became stressed with the lack of activities and the low level of responsibilities he had. Salim tried everything: tutored his younger brother Tutu for 17 straight hours, optimized the projected time of popping popcorn, and even continued to study for the IB exams fearing that they may actually occur. One day, he came across a ballet video online and gave it a try. Breno had found his natural talent. Instead of pursuing the original life path he planned as a kindergartner – Graded, Wharton, and investment banking – Breno decided to live life dancing. “Why stress, when you can dance?” became his motto. His new “mojo” opened many doors for him and he soon became a wellness coach at local investment banks. Breno had become Wendy Rhoades, instead of Bobby Axelrod. He even came to enjoy some of Wendy’s frowned upon desires. 20 years later, he lives in Ibiuna with his highschool sweetheart and is writing a novel on the beauty of life.

Guilherme Santos: After following his best-friend– Digo Mattos –to New York, Gui Santos begins to discover his inner self. 2 years later, Gui returns to Brazil to recover from his traumatic experiences of partaking in New York’s underground culture, describing it as “trevas men.” He goes on to conclude a 7-year spiritual retreat in his Fazenda which comes to an abrupt end after Mattos reaches out to him to open a nightclub in RJ. Gui becomes a successful businessman, and eventually buys the Praia do Taipe New Year’s party. After many “viradas” in Trancoso, Gui’s skin begins to turn white and his lips purple. He mutters to his friends: “nossa men,” and they know he can no longer live this lifestyle. Two decades later, Gui Santos’ whereabouts are unknown. The last news his friends received of him was that he married a girl he met in one of his psylo trips, but he couldn’t say her name as the couple communicates in an exotic dialectic untranslatable to conventional languages.

Kevin Santos: Kevin made it out of college only having hurt his knee four times, once each year – which was much less than expected. He got creative with filmmaking and ended up launching a TV show about a doctor and scientist duo who work to make everyone in the world have the perfect strong legs. The TV show blew up and he started attending various red carpets. His knee, however, never fully recovered. At first he thought it was bad fortune until he showed up at the Vanity Fair Oscar after-party wearing a knee brace which stood out to the crowd. He became known for his fashionable knee brace, and used custommade knee braces to every event he attended.

Federica Schmidt: After lots of careful consideration (and laziness that her senior year left her with), Fede decides to pull herself together and is able to successfully graduate from university in Uruguay. She continues to live in her beloved country, and jumps from job to job following her graduation. She simply can’t decide what she wants to do, and constantly calls Aliza to get her through her crises. After years of indecision, she realizes that her real passion is playing the ukulele, and after getting noticed at a Sebastian Yatra concert for holding up a sign, she ends up spending the rest of her days playing concerts with her idol. During one of her tours, she stops in New York to see her high school bestie, and meets her soulmate at a swanky nightclub. He follows her around her tour, and when

in twenty years they end up back in Uruguay, they live their days watching the sunsets and teaching their four kids the power of the ukulele.

Sarah Seojong Seo: The summer after graduating from Graded, Sarah spends her days drawing her heart’s desires, creating works that rival even some of the most talented artists in the world. Whilst sketching in a park, on a beautiful Korean summer’s day, a gallery owner notices Sarah’s talents, and invites her to create a collection for their ‘Upcoming Artist’ section. She happily accepts, and soon, people are standing in line to even get the smallest glimpse of her masterpieces. A manager approaches her, and together, they grow Sarah’s career to make her into a global sensation. In 20 years, Sarah will have gained worldwide recognition for her artistry, and her pieces will have been shown in infamous gallery’s, like Paris’ Le Louvre and NYC’s Met. While she happily lives with her family in Korea, she frequently visits her collections in different countries, using her perfectionist attitude to make sure they’re placed just right.

Jessica Serwaczak: After getting her degree in publicity and propaganda (better known as PP), Jessica’s horse account finally blows up with the lessons she learned in college. She starts expanding her horizons as she takes on IGTV, vlogging, and running a horseback riding clothing line. Her horses, Kaizer and Nini, also become renowned models for a famous horseback riding magazine. On the sidelines, she is also a very popular personal trainer in São Paulo’s most badaladas gyms, including Reebok Cidade Jardim and BodyTech Iguatemi. Her classes fill up instantly and she even has a waitlist for her clients!

Ridhima Shrivastava:After leaving Graded, Ridhima was excited to continue her life in the Netherlands. Entering Erasmus, she was extremely thrilled to study economics; however, her love for MUN and current events were not forgotten. Ridhima graduated top of her class with a major in economics as well as being the face and leader of the MUN club. All throughout college, her Instagram following grew, and included the likes of top tier celebrities and activists. She became legendary for her DM debates about the distinct current events happening and how to approach each challenging situation. Screenshots of these conversations were reposted under the hashtag #Ridiva, which trended globally for weeks on end, and eventually caught the attention of many news outlets. Although Ridhima had thought her degree would be put to use at a bank, her life took a turn when she was offered her own segment on CNN, named RidsNews, where her honest opinions changed the global political sphere for good.

Michael Smith: After missing graduation, favouring a walk with his dog over speeches and pieces of paper, Michael comfortably settles into his English lifestyle. With a greater selection of stores, Michael is able to expand his all-black wardrobe for a black and white one, and adds a (unnecessary for average human beings, but completely essential for Michael) large amount of vintage leather jackets to his collection. Each features a different make up of zippers and buttons, and his quirky yet consistent style makes him into a fashion icon. While that is his online tag, in person he is a successful banker, and is able to retire early in a

large house with his packs of dogs. This existence, however, is not enough for him, and he thus spends his money on building a bat cave under his mansion, like Batman. He stores his huge ring collection there, and occasionally hosts a private tour for a select few from the fashion world.

Laura Somoza: At CMC, Laura quickly realizes she isn’t cut-out for the small-college setting, and transfers to NYU. There she finds herself gaining a celebrity presence from her upbeat commercials for the local Latino bars. After graduating, Laura finally combines her passion for reggaeton and organization skills and seeks a job in the music industry, all while breaking up with her college boyfriend “Jose”, and returning to PR. As luck would have it, as she was walking in the “Plazita”, she runs into her icon, Bad Bunny, and realizing Laura’s untapped potential, he appoints her as manager of his 2026 world tour. Years of highstress event planning and romantic endeavors later, Laura uses her star-manager status to fulfil her dream of partying in the Caribbean islands, where she runs into her college sweetheart and decides he is the “one.” Laura now manages her fortune in a mansion by the ocean in PR, with three kids, a latino husband, and a successful career.

Minjae Song: After surprisingly being able to finish all of his math assignments and fulfill his attendance requirements, MinJae is set to take off. Remembering his highschool days with Ms. Doro, MinJae arrives late to his first important business meeting. While attempting to reach the meeting but also not in a rush, MinJae meets David, his future business partner. As a result of his amazing fluency in Spanish, English, and Korean they set up the world’s largest private security firm. Dominating markets in Buenos Aires, São Paulo, and Seoul, MinJae is happily living the life without any time constraints nor timed appointments.

Shashank Mishra: After graduating from high school, Shashank was excited to put his great mind to use in the real world. After managing to pass the incredibly difficult entrance exam to get into a top university in India, he becomes very popular, as everyone fawns over his brilliant mind. This gives him the idea to launch his chess club and becomes a chess grandmaster, winning the national title.

Even with this achievement, Shashank wants more, and one weekend, when he was just chilling at home, he manages to crack one of the seven unsolvable math problems with a broken pen on a toilet roll, simply because he was bored. Now, as a professor at his alma mater university, Shashank spends the rest of the days explaining complicated mathematical ideas to his students by saying “let me just draw this out” on the whiteboard.

Joseph Vartanian: After being accepted to his dream school, Joseph felt he was on top of the world! His four years in Babson were marked by endless nights DJing in various Boston nightclubs, where he fulfilled his dream of reviving the forgotten “Dj-Seph.” Swing’s DJ sets, however, would constantly be interrupted by phone calls and text messages from his mother worrying about his whereabouts.

Nevertheless, Joe would still enjoy the #parties and find time to complain to his many “peguetes” (as he would call them) about his overtraining. After trying for years, Joe acquired a membership card into the well established Gucci Gang. He finally had the confidence to ask Aida to marry

the talon • 35

in twenty years him while still enjoying late night GOT sessions with his favourite neighbor and first-love: “MJ.” Now, twenty years later, Joseph has become the very thing he swore to destroy: a part-time bar mitzvah DJ and an overprotective father.

Alyssa Ting: At Duke, Alyssa is extremely determined to find her passion along the way. After taking every course available, she ends up getting a degree in everything.

When it comes to dating Alyssa has found her paradise. She can finally meet men that are the perfect mix of smart and athletic, but struggles to find the one. That is, until she meets Jacques, a French exchange student who is expertly aware of all that is NFL and March Madness. She marries him and begins a sports blog, what she initially considered a hobby, but turns into her career. Her math skills let her make spot-on predictions that earn her national recognition, and eventually, a sports marketing job on ESPN. After having kids, she decides there’s no place better than Graded, so she relocates to a SP penthouse. With their golden retriever, Alyssa walks her kids to school everyday, and encourages them to preserve the Graded geniuses legacy of the Ting name.

Jacque Ussher: At USC, Jacque’s frequent bathroom breaks reduced her attendance and she graduates with the class of 2026. She becomes the ultimate California girl, turning fruitarian and conserving water by showering once a week and refilling her iconic tiny yellow water bottle. After joining what seemed like a hip yoga class, Jacque finds herself stuck in a cult. She escapes by using her disposable camera rolls to expose them. Needing a change, she joins a buddhist monastery, finds the true meaning of life, and returns to Brazil, reuniting with her HS sweetheart. She refuses to live in SP, though, insisting it’s only 20 minutes from Alphaville to Itaim. Jacque helps save the Amazon through an NGO, but on her maternity leave, realizes how much she loved learning about eco ways to raise kids, and founds the “Jay Quellin D-Nice” school with no classrooms or grades, and hosts creative writing and basketball workshops. Jacque happily manages the life of an educator, mother, and eco-friendly food and fashion blogger.

Rosanne Van Ballegooijen: When Rosanne arrived at UCM, she moved into the mansion and embraced the dutch lifestyle. She left her heels behind in SP, and walked everywhere. Only opting to bike when necessary, because when she did, she had a difficult time finding her way back home.

As she lost herself in Maastricht’s streets she asked for the help of a handsome stranger: an Italian exchange student, Giovanni. Rosie fell head over heels for the Sam Claflin look alike and married him a month later. Graduating with a major in Neuroscience, Rosanne was overwhelmed with opportunities and decided to pursue a career in psychology. Rosanne’s advice-giving earned her millions, as movie stars all over the world sought her for help. Meryl was so grateful that she offered Rosanne a role in the sequel to “Love, Rosie”. Rosanne’s performance earned her Hollywood stardom, and she was last seen in her Malibu mansion with Giovanni, her 4 kids, and in the company of Oscar winning actors.

Fleur Van Willegen: After settling into her new life in Maastricht, Fleur keeps up the fitness lifestyle, working

36 • the talon

out 6 days a week, eating her morning avocado toast, and snacking on strawberries while studying for her degree in Health Sciences. Yet, the healthy lifestyle only lasts until her college graduation. On that fateful day, she realises health is all due to your happiness, and drops her trendy lifestyle for a daily dose of dutch poffertjes with nutella, among other delicious baked goods, and a casual bike ride through fields of tulips. While snapping some Insta-worthy posts among the flowers, she bumps into her soulmate: a 2+ meter, athletic Dutchie who has lived abroad for years.

Turns out, he is as much of a foodie as she is, and together they travel the world, eating their way from country to country and posting recipes and restaurant reviews online.

Clara Villar: After graduating from Graded, Clara was extremely excited to finally pursue what she loves the most: animation. She took classes in all areas of this art, and this enabled her to become the most talented designer of her class. By posting all of her creations (characters, places, and intergalactic objects she had thought of) on her Instagram, her follower count skyrocketed, and quickly made her one of the most sought-after animation designers. Her followers, uniting as her personal fanclub, spammed Pixar and Disney’s DMs, which caused them to give her job offers for the next couple of years. Whilst working on a blockbuster animation some movies later, Clara was singing to herself, when her coworkers secretly filmed her and posted it online. Her fame was instantaneous, and thus her life took a turn. Make sure to listen to Clara’s debut album, on all streaming services soon. The album cover was designed by her, of course.

Luiza Vorckel: When Luiza leaves Graded for Pepperdine, her life seems set. She works hard at her International Relations degree, and graduates top of her class. She writes her thesis on poverty in Brazil, and measurements first world countries could take to help the global situation. She publishes her thesis online, which soon gets reposted so many times, the Brazilian government reaches out and invites her to start a committee to solve the problem. She returns to SP and spends her weekdays working hard with her team, and her weekends strolling down Avenida Paulista, hand-in-hand with her activist boyfriend. In her 30s, Luiza’s efforts to change Brazil prove fruitful, with statistics showing the country is 66% better than it has ever been!

Passing the baton on to younger leaders, Luiza switches her profession to one she has always wanted to do: librarian.

Maya Wainstein: As soon as she arrives at UPenn, hopes to relive her days in Punta through nights in karaoke bars singing Beyonce, and exceptional club outings all while continuously aiming for the lucky number 4. On one fateful night at “Castle,” she meets the love of her life. Having found her soulmate, Maya decides to settle down and finally decides to major in Journalism. Together they move to the Upper East Side, where she works as a freelance writer for Vogue and becomes famous for her column: “Love in a Cup of Coffee.” To maintain her star reputation, she opens her own exclusive Kitchin with Thommy for the elite of NYC. But, missing her SP life, she returns and she now spends her days in her fabulous corner office dressed in executive white suits, and continues to take her daily thoughtful walks through Parque do Povo.

in twenty years Giancarlo Wong: During his time at Notre Dame, he was known among his peers as the biggest tailgater in South Bend. He continued feeding his addiction to football and was the Irish’s most loyal supporter in their National Championship season. After graduating with a degree in Political Science, he created his own political party, but was soon exiled from the country because his truths were too strong and never followed the black-tie dress codes of political events. He decides to move up north to Canada, where the winters are longer, and he can finally expand his collection of college hoodies. To keep him warm, he also decides to never shave again.

Enzo Jun Jung Yumiketa: During his time at Graded, Enzo experienced the transition from Japanese to Brazilian, but now he was faced with a new challenge: the American culture. As his career as an international buraco player took off, he struggled to balance academics, buraco, and “ficando 13” every night, and decided to quit school to pursue buraco. Even after attending BU, he had still not learned English, and continued to make up his own vocabulary. Tired of struggling to communicate in the USA, he moved back to São Paulo where he followed his true calling to be a meinzinho, enjoying rounds of bluefin tuna at Santa Maria - ranting to the waiter when he brings the “dolorosa”- and watching Palmeiras soccer matches. As his friends began having kids, he finally gained the “tio” title he so deserved. Tio Barata can be seen embarrassing his nephews at parties by dancing enthusiastically to “Pump it up” and never making it to the end of the night.

Jiye Bae (Esther): After graduating from Graded, Esther went on to have a very diverse life. After college, which she left with a couple of hefty degrees, Esther pursued various careers. Due to her success in Chemistry HL, she dabbled and worked in some laboratories all over the world to contribute to groundbreaking discoveries. This wasn’t enough for her, however, and due to her brief stint as a writer for both The Talon and her previous high school’s paper, she went on to submit some monumental pieces about her work to various global magazines and newspapers, which earned her recognition as a talented writer. In 20 years, Esther is seen pursuing yet another career (left to be determined by her soon enough…), and happily living with her family in many different countries.

the talon • 37

college decisions

College Decisions

Where is the Class of 2020 heading to school?

JoĂŁo Aguiar de Souza - University of Southern California

Pedro Foz Caltabiano - University of California-Los Angeles

Rafael Anargyrou - Vanderbilt University

Camila Giraldez - Emory University

Belen Angelini - University of Southern California

Thomas Greco - Chapman University

Jiye Bae - Johns Hopkins University

Sophia Hajjar - University of California-Los Angeles

Tommaso Benazzi - Universita Bocconi

Ava Hillman - Lawrence University

Mariana Blay - Bowdoin College

Victor Jun Ho -New York University

Alessandra Braun Luzzi - Northeastern University

Martin Hoberman - Stanford University

Jessica Chang - Syracuse University Pedro Choo - Emory University Pedro Civita - Stanford University

Isabel de Azevedo Paiva - Boston College Marcelo de La Maza - Chapman University Kate De Wind - Bryn Mawr College Alexandra Drouin - Erasmus University Rotterdam

Paula Holzheim - University of Miami Rafaela Horle - Emory University Luiza Medeiros - University of the Arts London Enzo Jun Jung Yumiketa - Boston University Bernardo Kahn - George Washington University Samuel Kahn - Boston University Lys Kang - Swarthmore College

Laura Egan - Vanderbilt University

Gabriel Katz - New York University

Ian Fernandez - University of Colorado Boulder

Heesun Kim - Michigan State University

Paula Fernandez Musso - Barnard College Stefano Formicola - Claremont McKenna College

38 â&#x20AC;˘ the talon

Diogo Klabin - New York University Felipe Lanti - Babson College Gihyeok Lee - George Washington University Luiza Leite Sommer - Leiden University Col-

college decisions Alejandro Liberman - Pace University

Edmond Jacob Safdie - Babson College

Bruno Madrid - University of California-Santa Breno Sallouti - University of Pennsylvania Cruz Kevin Santos - Pepperdine University Lucas Marangoni - Syracuse University Guilherme Santos - The New School Anna Mariani - New York University Federica Schmidt - Dámaso Antonio LarraFelipe Marin - Buenos Aires Technology Insti- ñaga Catholic University of Uruguay tute Maria Julia Magalhães - University of Pennsylvania Nadya Marinkovic - Georgetown University Gabriel Matsumoto - Fordham University

Sejeong Seo - Sheridan College

Rodrigo Mattos - Parsons School of Design

Ridhima Shrivastava - Erasmus University Rotterdam

Michael Smith - Oxford Brookes University

Lucas McDonnell - Chapman University

Clara Mikellides - University College Utrecht Laura Somoza - Claremont McKenna College

Isabella Moraes - King’s College London Christophe Sung - Reed College

Pedro Moretzsohn -University of British CoAlyssa Hsu Ting - Duke University lumbia Alexandre Nascimento - Pepperdine University

Gabriel Olsa - Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art

Jacqueline Ussher - University of Southern California

Simon Park - Northeastern University

Fleur Van Willegen - Maastricht University

Pietra Pilão - Syracuse University

Joseph Vartanian - Babson College

Rosanne Van Ballegooijen - University College Maastricht

Camila Pricolo - Goldsmiths, University of Clara Villar - Laguna College of Art and Design London Sofia Pricolo - University of St Andrews

Felipe Ramires - University of Twente

Luiza Vorckel - Pepperdine University

Noah Rosenblatt - Syracuse University

Giancarlo Wong University of Notre Dame

Maya Wainstein - University of Pennsylvania

Tanisha Roy - St George’s, University of London Alexander Ruebens - University of Miami the talon • 39

letter from the advisors

Senior Staff 2020 Farewell To our departing senior contributors, Aliza, Camila, Bel, Lucas, Maju, and Sofia. It is clear that we are losing some of our most productive, consistent and creative talent. But our younger writers have gained far more lessons just from interacting with your work so that even with you leaving us, we feel that we are coming out ahead of the game.

To our departing section editors, Ava and Maya, we owe an even deeper debt for the caring instruction that you have offered to the writers, the patience that you have shown for us, and the attention to detail that you have brought to editing Features and Entertainment.

Lau and João , thank you always for making the mess of google docs into something always presentable and often beautiful. Your eye for detail and intimacy with InDesign have saved us time and again.

Rads, to what extent do best friends make the best editors? We’ll leave that to some future IB classes to ponder through — our minds are made up.

You have navigated this publication through the greatest challenge in our history, and you have done so with grace and poise, missing neither a beat nor a deadline, though, boy, did we cut it close with this last one! You have reasserted a high level of student control, and your legacy will stretch on to all future editors. Thank you so much!

Love, PhAmos

40 • the talon

the talon â&#x20AC;˘ 39