Red & Black, Us magazine

US

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[r&b] EDITOR-IN-CHIEF WEB EDITOR GRAPHICS EDITOR PAGE EDITORS

STAFF WRITERS

PHOTOGRAPHER ADVISER

MARIN FEHL JADEN SHEMESH JOHNATHAN DOAN JAVIER CUEVAS, ASHER MONTGOMERY, REEMA PATEL, ADRIANNA RODRIGUEZ, KYLIE SMITH, CAROLINA TORTORELLI MICAH ARBELO, PATRICK MCCURDY, EDILAWIT SEYOUM, RAHUL YALAMANCHILI, MEREDITH YEN TAMMY NGUYEN JOE HUMPHREY, MJE

HHSTODAY.COM

A N OT H E R LE T T E R F RO M U S

We decided to do a second edition of Us only about two weeks after we published the first one last fall. It was the natural decision – the entire philosophy behind this magazine is that every student, every person in the community and even every teacher has a story if you care enough to find it. So that’s what we did.

We once again began our endeavor by asking classes a simple question: If the [r&b] were to tell a story about you, what would it say? We also went beyond the black gate, gathering a small handful of stories that reflected what being in the Heights really means.

We ventured beyond Room 506 to capture an accurate picture of us. Because we aren’t just what you see on campus, we’re a collection of florists, of pastors, gamers, musicians, artists and passionate bird owners.

We have a responsibility to report the news, but this magazine isn’t about elections or the latest school board decisions, this is about us. But before you read about our community, I wanted to give you some insight into the makers behind this magazine.

Our staff is built on chaos. During fifth period, you can often find Javier and John chasing each other around the room while shouting nonsense. At this point, you’ll probably see Asher filming the what are now classic 506 shenanigans. Kylie will roll her eyes; I might just throw my hands up. Patrick will definitely be wearing his bright green crocs.

Carolina, Meredith and Micah will reliably be sitting in the same seats every day, joking and only occasionally paying attention to the ruckus happening behind them. Adrianna is probably questioning the purpose of all the noise.

Jaden will be frantically trying to finish his Spanish homework; Rahul might joke about that.

Reema is right alongside Kylie, rolling her eyes at the shenanigans, but she’s still cracking jokes about it. Jaileigh is probably sitting in her seat, listening to music and paying the hijinks no mind because she’s used to them by now.

It’s a wonder that we get any journalism done, but we do. And that’s us.

Good journalism, at its core, is about the people you meet or who you pass in the halls. That’s what you’ll find in this magazine. Admittedly, making this magazine was just as chaotic as our classes, but that’s what makes it honest. Our community isn’t perfect, but it’s who we are. So, we hope you’re ready to learn about all of us.

Happy reading.

Marin Fehl Editor-in-Chief

ABOUT THE COVER

The magazine was inspired by a piece by Andy Warhol called “Shot Marilyns.” Warhol’s work was a study of the individual through pop culture. Much like Warhol’s portraits, Us magazine is a close look into the individuals who reflect what our community is as of 2019. Pictured on the cover: Isabella Roman, Maliha Akter, Jessica Chao, Alexander Randall, Kaitlyn Bradley, Elijah Ellis, Victure White, Emma Zimmerman, Bryan Chamizo and Asiyah Ali-Salahuddin. | photos by luis rodriguez and marin fehl

THE PERFORMER

Kaileen’s top 5 favorite musicals: 1. Rent 2. Godspell 3. The Addams Family 4. Next to Normal 5. Come from Away

K A ILEEN B A R R E TO The stage, the script, the singing. For sophomore Kaileen Barreto, theatre is a lot more than just a hobby. It’s where her closest friends are. It’s where she can be her happiest self. It’s her home. Performing has been Barreto’s passion from a young age, and ever since her very first play, theatre has never left her heart.

Her journey started with the role of Maria on the show “Sound of Music” when she was only 8. Since then, Barreto has been part of multiple classic plays, such as “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Addams Family,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” and the more recent ones ‘Junkie’ and “Godspell.”

She is now on her fifth season at the Acting Studio of Lutz, where she started when she was 10. “Everything that’s happened in the last five years I would never change. This [theatre] is just my happy place. It made me discover what I want to be, how I want to do it. They’ve helped me along the way, and I think that’s something you can never really repay,” Barreto said. “Just having fun upstage with your friends. That’s the best way to do theatre.”

She is currently working on her first rep

show, which is done outside of classes to raise funds, called “Very Potter,” with the role of Cho Chang. “Kaileen was this shy little thing,” Jonah Watson, fellow student and oldest son of the Acting Studio’s owners, said. “I’ve seen her grow as a performer and as a person. She has learned how to talk to people and now she understands that theatre is about being with other people and connecting with others, instead of being the best of the best,” Watson said.

He commented on how Barreto grew and developed from a very self-critical girl, insecure about her singing, into a confident and talented performer. “She has grown as a vocalist exponentially, and as an actress, she is one of our best high schoolers,” Watson said.

Last summer, Barreto went to a summer intensive in New York City, where she performed in front of a Broadway industry panel and got to experience a little bit of her dream future. “I got to see a lot of cool shows and also to talk one-on-one with people that I look up to in the business,” Barreto explained.

She was inspired by her friend, Keira Osborne, who shares the same theatre dreams

as Barreto. “It was really cool bringing Kaileen with me to the intensive because she had never been to New York, and it was fun to show her around and have her be a part of what I like to experience every summer,” Osborne said. “Now it’s going to become our tradition.”

The two of them along with their other friend, Milana Mays, departed from Florida to New York City for a week full of dancing, singing and performing.

“I would wake up at 7 a.m., and after eating breakfast with Keira and getting ready, we would go up to the roof to sing and warmup while looking at the sun rising in New York City,” Barreto said. “I had an acting, dancing and singing class for each day of the intense training for the showcase on the last day.”

Kaileen Barreto’s experience at the intensive was only a sneak peak of what she dreams foher future. Her goal is to professionally perform in the Big Apple, she said. “I really want to live in New York one day. My plan is to get my theatre BFA (bachelor of fine arts), and from there do what I love for a living.” story and photo by carolina tortorelli

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Connor Wells His mom got his name idea from her favorite childhood TV show. She thought one of the characters was really cute and decided to name her son after what she thought was his name, Connor. Turns out the character’s name was actually Conrad and she had misheard it.

Katherine Sierra Erin Partlow Erin Partlow’s mother’s side of the family is from Irish descent. When her mother and father were deciding her name before she was born, “Erin” was a suggestion from her grandma. The name Erin means “Ireland” in the Irish Gaelic language.

Benjamin March Benjamin March was named after his great uncle who was shot in an alleyway.

Amani Pacheco

His name was inspired by his dad’s favorite football player, Amani Toomer.

Right before Katherine Sierra was born, her aunt lost her child that was named Katherine, so her parents, still in the mourning stage, decided to honor her with that name.

What’s in a

N A ME ?

Anastasía Bruzzichesi Her mother really liked the story of the lost Russian princess Anastasia, so she decided to name her daughter after her. However, her name is pronounced in a unique way [a-nuh-stah-ZEE-uh], differently from the traditional pronunciation.

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Skye McCarthy

Elizabela Pease

Skye McCarthy was named in honor of her great grandmother who was born in the Isles of Skye of Scotland.

Elizabela Pease’s name was inspired by her grandmother Elizabeth, but her parents added the ending “bella.”

Anthony Corso For Anthony Corso’s family, the name Anthony is very special. Both of his parents grandfathers coincidently shared the same name, Anthony. His parents then decided to continue the tradition and name him in honor of both sides of the family.

Rutwa Shah Her name means queen of seasons.

Her parents really liked a Hindi song that mentioned her name along with her sister’s name, Purva. They also wanted her name to rhyme with her oldest sister’s, Vishwa. That way, her name follows the name rhyme tradition of her family.

Jahari Whyms

Whyms’ mom wanted to name him Jalen, but his grandmother really liked the name Jahari, because it was different and unique. It comes from Africa and means baby boy.

Tyrese Gonzales

Jasmin Anderson

Her parents named her after their pitbull, Jas.

Tyrese Gonzales’ name was his dad’s idea. He wanted to break society’s name stereotypes.

Tyrese says his name changes the expectations of people from when they first meet him.

Luisana Nevares

Luisana Nevares’ parents thought she was going to be a boy, and had settled on the name Luis, which is her father’s name. When she was born, they decided to keep the name Luis in honor of her father, and added the ending “ana,” which they really liked, making Luisana.

Tyler Smith Tyler Smith’s name was originally going to be Payton. Payton is a name used for several generations in the Smith family, with Tyler’s dad being the third.

However, when thinking about naming him, they decided to use something different that would make him stand out, choosing Tyler instead.

Justus Holt

His religious father decided to name him after Justus, mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible.

Ashley Tran

Her parents wanted her name to rhyme with her siblings Sandy, Donny and Anthony, all ending with a “y” sound.

compiled by carolina tortorelli

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SAR A VEERJEE She knew something was wrong the summer before her sophomore year. The sudden barrage of appointments, appointments she didn’t know the reason for. After a quick search of the family computer’s history, she began to understand the gravity of the situation.

Soon after she began her search, senior Sara Veerjee found out her mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The revelation was accidental. Her older sisters were out of town at the time and her parents didn’t want to discuss the diagnosis until the whole family was together. “I freaked out and checked her email and found this surgeon she’d been having appointments with,” Veerjee said. “I asked the next morning and she told me and obviously I was distraught but since it wasn’t totally random, I saw it coming.”

Veerjee soon assumed the role her mother had filled once she learned of the diagnosis. She went grocery shopping with her sisters and made dinner every night so her dad could take her mother to appointments and her mother could focus on recovery. “I remember it being kind of hard to keep it together, but my sisters and I all tried to act normal in front of her and keep her the main focus,” she said. “The family dynamic changed but it definitely made us a lot closer.”

But after three surgeries, including a double mastectomy, Veerjee and her family found out that her mother would not have to undergo any chemotherapy or radiation treatment.

For Veerjee, this made her newfound responsibilities worth it.

Her mom’s doctors included her and her sisters in the diagnosis and treatment process to help ease their minds, which made Veerjee adopt a new role in the family. She became a caretaker just like her mother had been for her.

During one of her surgeries to test if the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes, Veerjee sat with her family in the hospital awaiting the results. She did her best to keep everyone calm, and when they found out the cancer had not spread, she planned a celebration with her mother’s doctors. “We were all just cheering in the waiting room,” Veerjee said.

“For her one-year cancer free we made a whole day out of it to celebrate and got tattoos together of the breast cancer ribbon.”

Now, Veerjee and her family participate in the Making Strides walk each year, as well as donating to the American Cancer Society. Despite the difficult experience, Veerjee said she has become a better person because of it, emulating the traits she admired in her mother. “I think I’m more appreciative of everything people do for me,” she said. “I try to spend more time with my family since you never kniw what can happen.” story by marin fehl photo by tammy nguyen photo (bottom) courtesy sara veerjee

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THE SURVIVOR

Franchesca’s favorite things to do: 1. Swimming 2. Skateboarding 3. Filmmaking 4. Photography 5. Writing

FR ANCHESC A SAN TO S It was usually a Tuesday or Wednesday morning when Franchesca Santos received her check up to make sure it was OK to proceed with the treatment. Then came a numbing cream, an orange liquid and doctor’s needles connecting her head to a bag from 9 to 5.

When Santos was 8, she was diagnosed with Optic Glioma at St. Joseph’s Hospital after what was thought to be lazy eye was checked again under the optometrist’s order.

“When I got diagnosed, I saw it as a joke,” she said. She did not know the seriousness.

She remembers not knowing what a cancer tumor was until that moment, so she initially couldn’t begin to comprehend it.

There was once, soon after starting chemotherapy, however, when Santos was scared.

She took medicine and threw up for hours.

She was allergic to the carbon platinum in the chemotherapy and then to the Benadryl she had taken to counteract it. “I thought I was going to die,” she said. It was the first time she had seen her grandfather cry. “He didn’t want anything to happen to me,” she explained.

After that moment of fear though, she was back to her normal self, cracking a joke about how at least they knew she was allergic to something.

Just before she was diagnosed, she had made the trip from Philadelphia, where she lived with her mom, to Tampa to live with her grandparents. Her grandparents took her to the doctor’s office, the cancer center and the hospital during the two-year period

of constant treatment. Her mom visited whenever possible and eventually moved to Tampa herself with Santos’s little brother. Now Santos lives with her mom full time. She is still extremely close with her grandpa.

A woman from the hospital would try her best to catch Santos up on the content she was missing at school. “Everyone at school was nice,” she remembers about her third-grade class. She wore a hat to school to hide the effects of chemotherapy. Her principal would also wear a hat so she wouldn’t feel left out.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation gave her, her uncle and her grandmother a cruise to St. Thomas, St. Martin and the Bahamas.

“The Make-a-Wish Foundation only sponsors you if they think you’re going to die,” Santos explained. “It was a lot of fun though.”

She remembers finding an abandoned house on the beach with her grandmother she thought was cool. They swam with dolphins and ate pasta and ice cream. She remembers the cruise being something her grandma chose to do and she went along with it.

Back home, there were darker moments.

When she was 9, she had suicidal thoughts.

“I wanted to kill myself and I blamed it on my mom,” she said. “I would yell at her, ‘You made me sign the papers.’” She is referring to the papers that she had to sign to participate in chemotherapy. The cancer center helped her out of that, letting her forget that she was different from her classmates for a little bit.

There, she played video games and took trips with other children who had cancer as well.

They never talked about having cancer.

Even now, five years later, she must go to the doctor every six months to make sure the tumor hasn’t grown again. “That always makes me nervous because if they find that it has grown, I’ll have to do something worse than chemotherapy.” What she’s referring to is radiology, another form of cancer treatment that involves high doses of energy to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Her grandfather’s neck was seared permanently black after radiology to treat throat cancer. “It’s basically a terrible suntan,” she explained. She doesn’t want that to happen to her face.

Despite that fear, Santos makes the best of it. She was able to get back into the proper grade after missing so much school by taking extra five-hour classes over the two months of summer between seventh and eighth grade.

She was hesitant at first because she had to miss a family trip but her grandmother pushed her to do it and she doesn’t regret it.

Outside, at the flagpole after school, Santos folds the American flag for the first time. She’s in JROTC. She laughs when she realizes she did it wrong and has to do it again. She maintains a positive attitude in everything she does and associates it with her being able to cope with the rough two years of her life. “I think it’s important,” she said. “If I wasn’t optimistic, I would have given up and probably would have never made it through.” story and photo by asher montgomery

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Kishan’s top 5 favorite video games: 1. Bloodborne 2. Kingdom Hearts 3. Rachet and Clank 4. Final Fantasy 12 5. Dying Light

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K ISHA N MA K ATI THE GAMER Colorful characters burst across the screen. Explosions. The battlefield is filled with corpses. “Focus nexus, focus nexus,” Darius shouts. “They’re getting their recalls off, so push now,” Darius says as he uses his ultimate to dunk Garen. Adrenaline bursting through his fingers, senior Kishan Makati, known in game as “Dragoon,” swipes his mouse across the desk, ready to strike the final blow on the enemy team’s nexus.

Staying competitive

Ranked in the top 300 of North American players, Makati has been in the amateur scene of “League of Legends” for the past two years, after being approached by a substitute team of Anew, a major “League” competitive team. “It was my first time in amateur but I played well so my reputation went up a lot,” He left the team after a year.

Makati’s team for the past four months, Team Front, was able to make it to the final stage. However, they were knocked out of the tournament. “I don’t want to call my team this year bad, but I was probably the best person on that team,” Makati said.

While he’s made several hundred dollars off the game in the past few months alone, Makati’s start in the video game world was not so profitable. “My addiction started with my cousin because he gave me and my brother a PlayStation 2 and Gameboy when he moved to college when I was 5,” Makati said.

He began playing when his father bought an Alienware computer and his brother began playing games on it. Makati followed his brother’s lead and made a “League” online profile. “He moved away from “League”, but I kept playing it because I thought I was good,” Makati said.

Always improving

One of his teammates, Tj “Command Attack” Björklund admires Kishan’s commitment to improving. “Kishan constantly wants to learn and try to be better than the competition,” Björklund said. “It’s obvious that he’s passionate about playing e-sports and wants to try to make something out

of it.”

Despite Makati’s talented start, he did not become an amateur competitor for several years. “Until age 12 I was just playing Thranked Ladder for fun, but around 12 I learned about these professionals mainly through YouTube videos, and I was pretty impressionable, so all I wanted to do was improve and compete,” Makati said.

Makati is involved with both the professional and amateur community, messaging professional coaches and players daily. “You have to make connections, and obviously you need tryouts for a team,” Makati said.

Makati’s income is not solely from competitive earnings, however. When he has time during summers, Makati livestreams himself playing to his 3,000 followers. “I’ve gotten several hundred dollars from it on Twitch and it’s definitely something I enjoy doing,” Makati said.

Finding balance

Balancing schoolwork with his gaming aspirations hasn’t always been easy for Makati. Scrims, or practice matches, and real matches are scheduled weekly at 8 p.m., and each match is a three-game set.

Matches typically end at 10:30 p.m., but then Makati spends time reviewing the game footage with his team to examine at their mistakes. “Sometimes when I have a lot of work, I have to stay up and sacrifice sleep to juggle everything,” Makati said.

Makati also plays solo, ranked games for a few hours nearly every day.

Makati’s parents support his video game endeavors, but also ensure he continues to pursue his academics. His father, Hitendra Makati, hopes Kishan has a future in gaming. “The whole professional play thing goes a little over my head, but I support him if he gets the chance,” Hitendra said.

“I still encourage him to get good grades since it’s not a guaranteed thing, but I want a future for him, and if his passion for games can be a part of it, then that would be amazing.”

Makati’s older brother, Kamal Makati, thought that he was wasting his time with video games at first. “However, after watch-

ing him grow into the current performer he is, I know I was wrong because Kishan working towards his goals of becoming a competitive player has become more real with each passing match and I’m incredibly happy he found such a passionate hobby,” Kamal said.

The future

As the e-sports industry grows, Makati finds insults towards competitive video game players increasingly frustrating. “A lot of people think that people that make money off of video games have it easy,” Makati said. “If you think of any other sport, the top people put just as much time in as video game pros. It may not be physical, but in terms of mental strength and micro movements it’s a similar amount of effort.”

While he’s unsure of his future in the game, Makati is confident he’ll end up on his feet. He wants to attend USF for college and play “League” competitively in order to become a professional. “My chances of going pro are relatively high at like almost 20-30 percent to go into Academy, which is pretty high in my opinion,” Makati said.

He believes his prime potential to “go pro” is in the next four years, and if he manages to become a professional then he will to try to stay in the competitive scene for as long as possible.

Makati understands the impermanence of his talent, but that doesn’t hinder his excitement for the game. “I may only consider “League” my passion for the next several years, but I’ll play video games for the rest of my life because it’s so integral to my life.”

Makati is progressing through the first stages of tryouts for a role for a team in the “Academy,” an official amateur organization based in Los Angeles. If he succeeds, he would have the opportunity to move into a house there with other teammates in January, playing officially for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

For more on Makati’s story, check out hhstoday.com. story by jaden shemesh photo by tammy nguyen

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THE POWERLIFTER

DAVID NGUYEN He could see his reflection on the gym floor in front of the black mat he was standing on. There were only two sounds in the room: the announcer’s commentary and his breathing. He decided to focus on the latter. Inhale.

Exhale.

The announcer’s encouragement echoed around the gym. “C’mon David let’s see it!” he shouted. Sophomore David Nguyen kept breathing. The weight was resting on his shoulders, his three spotters hovered anxiously around him. He bent his knees. It took less than 30 seconds for Nguyen to lift 177.5 pounds from a squatting position. “That was just a national record, ladies and gentlemen,” shouted the announcer.

Setting the record straight

Nguyen set the national drug tested record in his weight and age category, 198 pounds and 15 years old respectively, on June 29, 2019. But you won’t find him competing right now. “Now I need to focus on improving my strength because I’m going to be moving up in age category.”

Nguyen became entranced by exercise in seventh grade, creating a strict gym regimen. But the turning point for him was August 2016. He’d been bullied for his weight throughout elementary and middle school, but after his first break up, he was determined to make a change.

When he began his freshman year of high

10

school, he immediately joined wrestling. He saw it as a way to improve his self-esteem after the years of bullying and a seventh grade break up. But it didn’t stick. The daily two hours of conditioning combined with his workout regimen made his life too hectic.

Now, he powerlifts. “I do it just to look better, to improve myself, meet like-minded people,” Nguyen said. “I got into lifting because I’ve always had self-esteem issues growing up as the fat kid through elementary and half of middle school until I decided enough was enough and something had to change.”

His mentor

His current coach and veteran powerlifter with 35 years of lifting experience, Andrew Yerrakadu, invited him to join the Ironbell Barbell Club, a powerlifting team based at Hillsborough soon after he quit wrestling.

Initially, Nguyen was surprised by the invite, he had only asked Yerrakadu to help him improve his lift. Now, Nguyen has been with the team for almost a year.

“Andrew’s nickname with the team is Pops.

He’s like a father figure for all of us,” Nguyen said. Yerrakuda provides guidance to the team both in and out the gym, whether it’s emotional or lifting related. Nguyen, who says has never had a supportive adult figure outside of his family before, has been especially impacted by Yerrakadu.

“During the summer I told him I needed

David’s top 5 favorite exercises: 1. Squat 2. Bench press 3. Deadlift 4. Barbell rows 5. Close grip bench

some money to fund expenses such as equipment and entry fees for the powerlifting meets and asked him if there was anything he could do. He got me a job painting houses for the summer. I never really ever had anyone that wasn’t family I could really go to when I needed something or help so it meant a lot to me knowing he was there,” he said. “He’s one of the only adults I trust with my personal issues and I know that no matter what it is, I can talk to him and he will find a way to help me.”

Looking towards the future

Teammate Jeremiah Eaton also motivates him to keep lifting. Nguyen said that of everyone on the team, he is closest to Eaton, who spots for him, critiques his form and help him improve his technique. For Nguyen, Yerrakadu and Eaton are ultimately the reasons he pursues powerlifting regardless of the difficulties.

As Nguyen works toward improving his strength and lifting, he plans to lean on Yerrakadu and his teammates for support.

“Powerlifting is difficult, but I’m happy where I am so I don’t see any reason to stop in the near future. Also,” Nguyen joked, “Andrew is a lawyer If I ever need legal advice.” story by marin fehl photos courtesy david nguyen

DYLLON HUBB A RD Freshman Dyllon Hubbard practices kicking in a net throughout the duration of the Homecoming football game. The field behind him is a whirlwind of action. Coaches furiously shout plays across the field.

Players on the sideline frantically snatch at water bottles, all the while completely consumed by their teammates on the field. To his right, the crowd cheers for the players.

He pays them no mind. Earlier, he kneeled for an injured teammate.

But that was the only distraction from his task.

He first played soccer when he was 5. Armed with the fierce determination of a kindergartner and a father who encouraged him to play sports long before he kicked his first soccer ball, he fell in love with sports. He began to seriously pursue athletics shortly after, when he realized he might have “a little bit of something.”

He planned on joining the junior varsity team, but after it was disbanded this year, he found lternative plans. Despite being a freshman, Hubbard is already well on his way

to taking a spot on the field. He trains under junior Zachary Long, the current kicker. But he didn’t start with football. “This is my first year of actually playing football,” Hubbard laughed.

“I played soccer,” he explained.

“I have a powerful enough leg to start learning how to do it, but other than that, I’m really just new.” He began playing at Tampa Bay United, a club team, where he stayed for seven years. He quit playing three years ago.

He practices kicking throughout the entirety of every game. His focus never strays from the net. “There’s only about a 30 percent chance that I’ll actually kick today, but I want to be really good if I do,” he said. Each time he practices kicking, he imagines himself scoring an extra point on the field for the team.

“I quit club to play school soccer, but I guess it must not have work out,” he joked. “Now, I play football.” story by marin fehl photo by tammy nguyen

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Junior Emma Zimmerman teaches senior Nick Jeffords how to saute foods properly.

THE CHEF

EMMA Z IMMERM A N Cutting boards clang against metal worktables. Steam wafts off sizzling pans and the smell of steak sandwiches across the room. The clamor of voices and whizz of knives and bread marks the beginning of A Lunch. Over 100 orders today. Despite the heat, junior Emma Zimmerman doesn’t break a sweat. She slides on her gloves and gets to work.

As the head chef of Hillsborough’s culinary program, Zimmerman knows her way around the kitchen. Her culinary path began at age 5, making breakfast with her grandmother. “She always taught me how to cook, just making cafe con leche, eggs and toast, and I started liking it,” Zimmerman said. Soon she was making Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners with her mother and grandmother, expanding her skills with each new meal.

The Head Chef

Zimmerman oversees 45 culinary students between two periods. The culinary program manages the Terrier Café, a restaurant run out of culinary teacher and chef Dalton Dunn’s room on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The first part of the week is used as meal prep, creating dishes from French onion soup to pumpkin pie to Cuban sandwiches.

The program also oversees banquets for the alumni and sports teams. “Being head chef in our culinary program means that I’m not just thinking of myself, but the culinary program as a whole,” Zimmerman said. “I’m thinking of next year and how to help students if I’m not there.”

Dunn, known to his students simply as “Chef,” has seen Zimmerman’s excitement for the art since her freshman year. “I remember she came in enthusiastic during her first open house, and from then on, she’s just taken off like a moth to flame,” Dunn said. He’s seen her quick progression as she’s mastered several skills differentiating a chef from a cook, so much so that Zimmerman’s boss at King of the

Coop calls Dunn to see if Zimmerman can work more. “I’m here early, she’s here with me, and if I need help, she’s there,” Dunn said. “She’s pushed me to be better, and I’ve tried to push her to be better.”

Her Future

Students hope to graduate with a manager certification, one that Zimmerman has already achieved. With each certification, more money cycles back into the program. However, students also benefit from the certification, which tests cooking and management knowledge. “If you want to get a culinary job, you have to have something under your belt that shows you know what you’re doing and you’re not just an inexperienced kid,” Zimmerman said.

At first, creating a balanced schedule was difficult for Zimmerman. As a Dancerette, she spends most of her week practicing with the team. Afterwards, she dances with her studio at Tampa Gym and Dance, and on weekends, she works 12-hour shifts at King of the Coop. While her plate is filled with activities, Zimmerman finds the routine to be relaxing now.

“I found my outlets, so now work isn’t stressful for me.”

Zimmerman began working at the fried chicken establishment in the summer but has had to decrease her hours since school started. However, she isn’t upset over the reduction because although the pay is helpful, her job at King of the Coop has always been about gaining experience. “The owner went to Le Cordon Bleu (a culinary school), so it’s really interesting to see how his oil drenches are more than just oil, and he makes fried chicken more than just fried chicken.”

Beyond Minimum Wage

While she respects and understands the need for lower positions, Zimmerman has higher hopes for her role in the culinary world beyond growing her brand

for the next 10 years. “I want to have my own restaurant, just like every chef ’s dream, but mine would be called Zimm’s Kitchen,” Zimmerman said.

However, her more immediate goal is to go to culinary school. “I have been looking into culinary schools such as the ICC, which is the International Culinary Center in New York City and we’ve been conversing,” Zimmerman said. She applied this year as a junior and is not discouraged by the difficult acceptance rate. “I want to shoot for the best and if I don’t get it this year, it won’t stop me from trying again next year.”

Zimm’s Kitchen

Since the start of high school and her position as head chef, Zimmerman has faced numerous challenges, including sexism and harsh realities. “I’ve learned that you can throw your whole heart out there and it doesn’t matter because there are still people out there that want you to fail,” she said. Zimmerman has noticed that the industry has been more male-dominated, despite female stereotypes.

While some around her have said that a woman should not be in charge, Zimmerman believes that she has earned her position. “Even though there are people that tell you all the time that you’re just a girl and won’t listen to you, its OK because not everybody is meant to be your friend, so you have to stop complaining and roll with the punches,” Zimmerman said.

While she understands the realities of the profession, Zimmerman is not deterred. “Going in the food industry is going to be very competitive, but I’m ready for the fight,” she said. For now, though, Zimmerman is content with steak sandwiches and fried chicken. It’s only a matter of thyme before Zimm’s Kitchen pops up along a street corner, she says. story and photo by jaden shemesh

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Christian’s tips for pursuing rap: 1. Stay focused.

2. Don’t pay attention to what others are talkinh about.

3. Work hard.

THE RAPPER

C ON CHR ISTIA OHNSO AN JO Sitting on the edge of his seat, he waits for the bell to ring. Time for HOPE. Naturally, he does his best thinking while walking. He walks around the track, only to stop a few laps in. He’s got it. The tune, the lyrics. All of it.

Freshman Christian Johnson reaches his phone and begins recording the start to his new song. Maybe this one will go platinum.

Johnson has been rapping for nearly eight years now. “It naturally came to me because of my big brother,” Johnson said. His brother would rap with Johnson but took the art more seriously.

It wasn’t until the end of elementary school that Johnson began improving his rap skills rapidly, so much so that his family took notice. “I was 11 doing talent shows and [rap videos] for my Instagram,” Johnson said.

Eventually, Johnson knew what he wanted to do. “When teachers used to ask me what I wanted to be in the future, I [would] say a

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rapper, and I spoke it into [existence].

Similar to many up-and-coming rappers, Johnson mainly raps about his and his friends’ experiences. “I rap mostly about personal experiences but also a lot of what you see going on in the hood too,” he said.

Johnson’s inspiration for lyrics comes from his everyday routine. “I could be in the middle of something and an idea will pop in my head with a tune, so I keep saying that over and over again and then another line will pop up and I end up with four bars that I write down on the notes app or on paper,” he said. Johnson usually creates his own beats and then raps to them, but sometimes he gets ideas from his big brother.

Johnson’s raps are a combination of modern mumble rap and classic rap. While he understands why some don’t enjoy mumble rap, he still appreciates it because it’s what he’s grown up with.

However, he still tries to rap more meaningful lyrics from time to time. “I can show people I really know how to rap, so that people don’t underestimate me,” he said.

Johnson said that not everyone can be a rapper. “People want to rap just [because] they see the next [person] make it,” he said.

“When you force it, the [music] won’t come out right. People are chosen for this, and it’ll come naturally to them.”

The young rapper’s family and friends have encouraged him to pursue his dream, supporting him since he began rapping. “My grandmother always told me that if you want to do something, do it all the way if you do it right.”

Johnson’s music can be found on ReverbNation and Soundcloud under his username “Baebaedaguddajit.” story by jaden shemesh photo by tammy nguyen

JACOB ALVIOR Senior Jacob Alvior began learning music at a very young age. The piano and drums did not appeal to Alvior for long, and once his brother learned guitar, Alvior followed suit.

Alvior began to take serious interest in the art when he discovered John Mayer. “I always liked his music but near the middle of school I noticed how good his guitar playing was and started watching his hand movements in videos,” Alvior said. However, it was not until he attended a church camp in his freshman year that he decided to pursue guitar again. Alvior listened to a guitar performance from several kids his age and realized that he could learn it too.

Through YouTube, Alvior was able to teach himself certain chords and notes. He soon explored more formal avenues, taking classes from a classical guitarist. “That’s when I started to get really interested in the art, and instead of just playing guitar, I wanted to learn how to read music and make up chords,” Alvior said.

While he plays for the youth ministry of his church, Alvior typically keeps his music to the confines of his own home. “I normally play at home with my brother or for myself,” he said.

Alvior plans to set up a recording studio in his home. “Music will always be my hobby, but I have no intention to make money off of it,” Alvior said. “I play because I love it.” story by jaden shemesh photo by tammy nguyen

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ALYNNE C AWLE Y She played when the lights were brightest.

The building was full of people anticipating what was to come, cameras in hand.

Microphones were prepared to capture every elegant sound made from her instrument.

Practice was necessary to come as far as she had and now, she got to play with the in of Tampa. She played the violin since she was 5 and eventually good at it, she auditioned for the Tampa Metropolitan Orchestra and made it. The orchestra aspires to be recognized as one of the best youth orchestras and wants to reach the hearts of the young souls to try and expose them to a love of classical music. Alynne Cawley, a junior at Hillsborough, plays for this orchestra Cawley loved being under the lights. She is never intimidated to walk out and see University of South Florida’s auditorium full of people that are eager to watch the show

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they’ve practiced for months. “It’s really exciting,” she said. “It’s almost like an adrenaline rush when you walk out and see everybody.

They clap for you it’s super cool.”

The orchestra practices together every Monday until their big performance of which they have two of per year. Cawley is committed to being the best musician she can be so she puts in work even away from her orchestra. “I practice every day,” Cawley says.

“Most of the time for an hour but the entire orchestra meets once a week at USF.” The coolest part about the concerts for Cawley is seeing the crowd. “You see the conductor standing at the front, she says. “Then you look out and see a room full of people recording you and clapping for you and just smiling.”

Cawley’s peers say her attributes are what lead her to being successful. “She is

disciplined, pays attention to detail and has a knowledge of classical music,” her sister, Avery Cawley said.

Cawley’s traits are what lead her to success but she wouldn’t be as good as she is without her main inspiration. Cawley’s biggest inspiration to play the violin is her sister. “My sister started playing the violin in kindergarten,” Cawley says. “I saw her playing it and it inspired me to want to do that. I actually got the choice to play the cello but I chose the violin after her.”

Cawley’s sister still plays the violin and is also in the Tampa Metropolitan Youth Orchestra with her sister. Their bond is almost unbreakable. “We’re super close and always have been,” Cawley’s sister said. story by patrick mccurdy photo by tammy nguyen

EILEEN A ND J ACO B THE DUO

It is a regular school day, temperatures are extremely hot, everybody is ready to get food, but on this day, will be the third year of the relationship between seniors Jacob Iasevoli and his significant other, Eileen Iglesias. Jacob is carrying Eileen’s backpack while escorting her to a nearby seat at a lunch table where there is shade to cover both of them.

The two lovers first met at Memorial Middle School in sixth grade, when Jacob’s friends were showing him the classes and it was in science class where Jacob and Eileen met for the first time. Jacob, who had an extremely long hair and a hoodie that covered his face, did a project with her. Ever since that day, the two have been doing every project together.

It was Eileen’s birthday that September around September when Jacob confessed his feelings at United Skates of America. They got to know each other more. They played games and ate lots of food, but there was still conflict.“I remember because of family issues and our communication weren’t good that we broke up since it was first time,” Eileen said.

The couple came back together after a day from their issue with family matters. “Our connections were so strong that we couldn’t stay apart from each other. We did resolve our problems afterwards,” Jacob said.

They’ve been enjoying spending time with each other and like to go to the

beaches, movie and parties. They also paint with each other. In his spare time, Jacob loves welding, and wants to be an iron worker builder because he loves the heat and flow of electricity around him while listening to his music.

He is following the footsteps of both his father and teacher James Martinez. “Yeah, he’s a great kid! Jacob also likes to help the rest of the kids since he’s at a higher rank. Plus, he is my TA for first period,” Martinez said.

Eileen also works with her hands. She loves doing cosmetology and her fascination with art can come in handy with people’s nails and hair and working with models. If not those, she just draw for fun or play video games. “He treats me very well! Opening doors, holding my bags, very loyal, and respectful to everyone, very smart, he’s pretty much a gentlemen,” Eileen said, describing what she sees in him. Both Eileen and Jacob plan on achieving their dream jobs and staying together. story by eduardo hernandez photo by john doan graphics by reema patel

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Locale Church meets in Hillsborough’s auditorium every Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

THE PASTOR

ADR IENNE MILLER

She greeted everyone. Hovering around her was the smell of coffee and doughnuts.

She offered them to quite a few. Never faltering, even when set up took a wrong turn, Pastor Adrienne Miller of Locale Church was dancing around the churchgoers like she’d been doing it for several lifetimes.

She hugged those who were returning for service and eagerly bounded up to people she hadn’t seen before. “We’re so happy to have you here. Thank you so much for being here,” she said. It echoed around the halls.

Soon, she was heading into the Auditorium. The church service would start in only 11 minutes, according to the timer she had set up on a projector behind her. “I might be wearing all black right now but I’m so excited and ready to go,” she joked.

Miller has attended church her whole life. Her parents worked in ministry and she was always on their heels. But it wasn’t until later that she understood her passion for it. “I didn’t know until I was an adult,” she said. “I got to have my own experience with faith and God and then after that I just knew.”

After her revelation, she decided that she would pursue it as a career, and she has been for 13 years. She began as a child minister in Clearwater at Countryside Christian Church.

There, she met her best friend of over a decade, RJ Denton, and her husband, Ryan Miller.

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Her passion for religion started long before her adult epiphany. In high school, she began to struggle with generalized anxiety. So, she began looking for solace. She found it at her childhood church with the guidance from her pastor, Joey.

“We are completely a product of the people who did what we’re doing now for us,” she said. “I had a pastor when I was younger named Joey who wasn’t just a pastor, but a friend who never gave up on me when I was doing the wrong stuff or being stupid. He never wavered in his belief in me, that I could do anything or that I was worth something.

So now, at the end of the day I still believe that I’m worth something.”

His encouragement helped her start to get a hold on her life. “We’re all so stupid when we’re younger,” she joked. “But I think that we’re the product of a lot of people, so that’s what we want to do now. We want to be that person for other people who tell you that you’re worth something and tell you that even though you might be at a stagnant point in your life, there’s more and there’s hope. That’s what I want to be because I had someone who was there for me.”

Two years ago, she and her husband decided to plant a church under the Association of Related Churches (ARC), a foundation that helps new churches get on their feet. But after only a few weeks, their plans were put on hold

when she found out that she was pregnant.

“We just had to take a break from it,” Denton said. “It was too much to do at once. It’s a lot of stress and a lot going on, especially with a newborn. It’s just a big lift every Sunday.”

A few months after her son was born, Miller was ready to get back on her feet.

They moved from Clearwater to Tampa and soon fell in love with Hillsborough, and the stained glass windows in the Auditorium that reminded them of a church. “We all just thought that it was the most beautiful place,” Denton said.

Miller fell in love with Tampa and the Seminole Heights community, and she was determined to share what her childhood pastor had taught her. Now, Locale Church hosts service for over 100 people every Sunday, paying rent for the use of the Auditorium and several classrooms, but Miller still plans on expanding their reach.

“For me, I dealt with generalized anxiety my whole life and through worship and music and the community, I learned that I didn’t always have to be that way,” she said. “It gave me power over myself. Yeah, I still get anxious, but it doesn’t run my life because I have something greater,” she said. “When we’re freed from something so heavy, you want to tell people about it.”

story and photo by marin fehl

THE FLORIST

LIND A QUINN

The sun is not yet fully in the sky as Linda Quinn unpacks the trunk of her navy blue Volkswagen Tiguan. “$5 Flowers” reads multiple laminated signs plastered to the sides of the bins filled with bouquets of flowers.

She thinks she’ll need a floodlight to shine on the flowers as the winter gets closer when it takes longer to get light outside in the morning.

For three hours, from 7:30 to 10:30 Thursday and Friday mornings, the dark wavy haired woman wearing a black apron tied around her waist sells premade flower bouquets to those driving down North Central Avenue or through the Starbucks drive-thru. “$5 Flowers was an idea in my head for a while now,” Quinn said.

She decided to take her idea to the test, setting up shop outside Starbucks at the end of May. “I’m the crazy florist that decides to sell flowers after Mother’s Day,” she laughs.

She never intended to be a florist.

She used to be a hairstylist at a hair

salon that sold flowers on the side.

One day, the florist didn’t show up and she started selling the flowers every day. Later, she worked at one of Tampa’s largest flower shops at the time, Outatree, doing mostly wedding work. “I can make a mean corsage,” she notes. “I have an affinity for it. I’m slow but I’m good.”

A young woman in a silver Honda pulls up to the curb looking to buy a bouquet. When she doesn’t have the proper card to pay and hands the bouquet back, Quinn hurries back to the bins and grabs a smaller bouquet and hands it to her through the window.

She sells pink, green, white, orange, yellow and purple Alstroemerias, a luminous flower that has small brown specks on the center petals.

She also sells orange, yellow and dark red Daisies and Button Mums of a rich violet color. These flowers are all longlasting and cheap, two factors that Quinn has to think about when selling bouquets that are only $5 each.

She attributes being able to plan and start a business to having a degree in entrepreneurship from the University of South Florida. In her classes at USF, she describes having

many group projects where they formed and pitched business ideas.

“I have to make sure my profit margin is enough,’ she explains.

She buys the flowers by the box.

There are 12 bunches to a box and on average 10 stems to a bunch. In her garage and on the dining room table she lays out her flowers and creates bouquets to match a color scheme.

Quinn hopes that eventually she’ll be able to sell 400 bouquets a week, between her Starbucks shifts and markets in Ybor city on Saturdays.

When she reaches that point, she could possibly quit her current job as a bartender at a nightclub. For now, as she’s selling 20-30 bouquets a week, she must keep her part-time job working four nights a week so that she’s able to keep $5 Flowers running.

She concedes that the career change was a big risk, but she doesn’t regret it. “If you wait ‘till things are perfect, you’re never going to accomplish them.” story and photo by asher montgomery graphics by john doan

THE ANIMATOR

M A R IA E S T R A D A Music is playing in the background as junior Maria Estrada sits at her desk with her feet up, working on her animations.

The aspiring animator finds inspiration from mostly anywhere. From listening to her favorite songs in her bedroom late at night, to finding beautifully colorful wildlife on walks around her neighborhood, Estrada is inspired by the world around her. “I live by the Hillsborough River, so I get to see boats pass by all the time and that could be all it takes to inspire me,” she said.

“As I grew up, I fell in love with shows like “Adventure Time’ and “Steven Universe”. I realized that I wanted to make people as happy and laugh as these shows made me laugh,” Estrada said. She started her animations as a hobby at first, making simple animations like one of a ball just bouncing frame by frame.

They were just simple drawings put together to create something fun to watch.

Now, she spends hours a day making animated clips that are minutes long. She posts some of her work on her Instagram, YouTube channel and Tumblr blog. Other artists who love her work commission her to make artwork for them. Her online alias

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is Juno, a name she got from spending time on the internet.

For right now, she operates on her phone by using an animation app called FlipaClip. “Since I’m not fancy yet, I just work frame by frame. Most of it is copy and paste and a lot of redrawing,” Estrada said. Her ideal setup would be a drawing pad that hooks up to a laptop since it offers more options for creating artwork.

Estrada’s online friend of four years, Ashley Martel, has seen her grow as an animator. “She’s gone through a whole bunch in her life, but has always seemed to move forward,” Martel said. “She’s changed a lot as a person, and as an animator. I think her content has got a lot more depth.”

In the future, Estrada wants to write a book that she intends on turning in to a show when she has the resources.

“I want people to spread good messages with my work,” Estrada said. “I just want to show people my work and make people happy from it.”

story by john doan photo by tammy nguyen

From left: Palagwa, Batatu and Mupunga Makemba

THE TRIPLETS

THE MA K EM B A S

Seniors Batatu Makemba, Palagwa Makemba and Mupunga Makemba made the journey with their parents from the Congo three years ago. “We came to America because life in Africa is very bad,” Batatu said.

Their mother, Kashetu, and father, Matondo, managed to save enough money to move the family to Florida after only a short period of time.

Their father wanted to raise the triplets in a safer environment. “The crime was terrible in the place we lived in,” Matondo said. “Life wasn’t good.”

The move put the triplets in unfamiliar territory, but they enjoyed the faster pace of life in their new home.

The triplets are very grateful that their parents were able to get them all to America.

Their parents worked hard to get them all to America. The dad worked multiple eight hour shifts as a custodian at a restaurant, everyday coming home late trying to get extra shift for more money to support his whole family.

Their mom also worked hard, five days a week for eight hours at the same shop as the triplets. The Makemba triplets would work at store selling soda while also having to go to school. “For school my parents had to pay $70 for each of us,” Palagwa said.

Palagwa

Palagwa Makemba is the youngest of the three and enjoys school the least but really likes his Digital Information Tech class. There, he gets started and enjoys working on the computer and learns about different software programs. He also learns how to store data on the computer. Palagwa is glad that “here in America is free school, that is why l like America. Life is very very very good.” Back in the Congo, Palagwa says that his family had to pay for his brother sister and him to attend school.

Batatu

Batatu Makemba loves America but sometimes misses Congo. She says that while

she lived in the Congo all she wanted to do was leave, but now that she is here, she misses home. She said life was hard when she lived there, there was a lot of crime and there still is. The government there is not great, and the biggest problem is the violence and it is the poorest country in the world, she said. “In my future l wanna be manager of government,” she said. Her favorite subject in school is English.

Mupunga

The oldest of the three is Mupunga Makemba. He enjoys math and, like the rest, is grateful to be in America out of Congo.

When he was in Congo, he would take his job of making money more seriously than school because he needs to do well at his job to get money to be able to pay for school. Now that he is able to attend school that costs nothing, he says he can focus more on his education. story and photo by edilawit seyoum

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J’Dyn’s favorite books: 1. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan 2. The Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan 3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days by Jeff Kinney 4. Serpent Shadow by Rick Riordan 5. The Lightning Thief

by Rick Riordan

THE ‘GENTLE GIANT’ J DYN FR A NCIA

Unless he’s on the field, protecting the quarterback by blocking the opponents from rushing, J’dyn Francia doesn’t enjoy being a 6-foot-2 freshman. Even when playing football, he doesn’t find his height to be that beneficial. “Height doesn’t help me at all,” he notes, regarding his position as offensive tackle for the Jackson Heights Vikings, a Tampa football team for kids aged 5-14 . “The way it works is the closer they are to the ground the harder it is for them to push you.”

There are many reasons Francia doesn’t like being big. One challenge especially: Finding Size 16 shoes. “It’s horrible when I go into like Foot Locker, [they ask] ‘Can I help you?’ ‘Yeah, do you have shoes for giants?’” he said. He ends up buying his shoes online.

Height also doesn’t have any benefits for his favorite activity, reading. He enjoys fantasy books, especially Rick Riordan’s series, The Kane Chronicles.

Francia describes squeezing into his mom’s 1997 Toyota Corolla, a relatively small car. He hits his head on the roof trying to squeeze in.

“It’s all minor inconveniences,” he said. “There’s not really any benefits to being big.” In their house now, he ducks to avoid hitting his head on the archway that separates the living room from the hallway.

However, he does get to have the couch to himself for watching TV and reading. He says he is often compared to the other men in his family, his grandpa and is uncle, who are also tall; his grandpa being

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6-foot-5 and his uncle being 6-foot-3. He doesn’t know his dad’s height because he hasn’t been in Francia’s life for a long time.

Francia says he doesn’t let his dad’s absence affect him at all. Raised by his mother with help from family and family friends, his relationship with her is very close. Living together in small houses when Francia was younger, he thinks fueled that closeness between them.

He thinks he could be described as a gentle giant, a character archetype found in tons of books and movies. His science teacher Alexis Cooke agrees. “He’s an awesome student,” she said. “I’d definitely describe him as a gentle giant.” She says he’s often found cracking jokes or trying to explain certain video games to her. This year, his favorite class is science because of Cooke. She says he’s one of the only kids in his period with a good grade in her class.

“When you are as tall as he is, especially as a freshman, people notice you,” said Cooke, addressing the reasons Francia may not like his size.

Despite wishing he was smaller, Francia makes the best of his height proving to be successful tackle for the Jackson Heights Vikings and stretching to take up the entire couch so he doesn’t have to share. story and photos by asher montgomery

JO OH N B A OR E AR MO

THE SON

John Barmore attended his summer HOST program at Gorrie Elementary School with an unusually upbeat attitude on the day of June 23, 2012. Excitement boiled in his chest as he entered the school gates.

It was his birthday, and his parents would be meeting him for lunch in the courtyard at 10:45 sharp. They would bring along his favorite meal: a 10-piece Chicken McNugget combo from McDonald’s.

The program staff allowed Barmore to have two friends dine with him outside the lunchroom. Upon his parents’ arrival, he ran to them in jubilation. However, his friends instead stared in confusion at their friend hugging his two guardians, as their expectations of a traditional family were permanently rearranged. Before them stood Barmore, hugging his mother and stepmom.

Childhood

Growing up, Barmore only saw examples of a traditional nuclear family in school or on television, but this was not the case for him. This conflicted with his own image of a family, which consisted of himself and his two mothers. “Every time I saw a family in a commercial or a TV show, it would always have a straight couple. I was told that I was different,” Barmore said. He conditioned himself dismiss these images, due to his unusual family dynamic being the only one he had ever known. “I reminded myself all the time that everyone was different, and I didn’t really feel bad about it.”

When raising Barmore, his mother Karen Barmore and stepmother Kim Bender, felt the need to compensate for the absence of a father in the household. “I grew up with a really great father, and I felt like with John I had to be the perfect mother to make up for that absence,” Karen Barmore said. “Specifically when he was really young, I would do the things that a father would do, like coach his soccer team.” Events that most would share with their father, John experienced with his mothers. “Kim taught him how to ride a bike,

Barmore, his mom Karen Barmore and his stepmom Kim Bender cut strawberries together. “I think my parents being so open with their own sexuality inspired me to embrace my own uniqueness,” Barmore said I tried to teach him how to shave, things a dad would normally be there for,” Karen said.

Barmore entered Wilson Middle School without the need to search for new friends.

“Almost all of the kids from my elementary school came with me, so I didn’t have to start over,” Barmore said.

This temporary social comfort was broken at the start his sixth-grade year. During open house, more of Barmore’s peers were introduced to his parents, and his friends’ previous indifference towards his personal life no longer remained. The sole focus of most conversations held with classmates seemed to always concern his parents being a lesbian couple.

“People would always ask me ‘Are your parents gay?’” Barmore said. “And when I answered, they would look at me like I wasn’t ordinary.”

As he navigated through the public school system, Barmore’s self-perceived abnormality took a toll on his behavior. “I always felt like there was a stigma behind my parents, so I was a little reluctant to talk about it with people.”

High school

As time progressed, Barmore’s social setting shifted to Hillsborough. It was here that he was introduced to friends such as Nathan

Karakorn, who accepted his situation without judgement. “I grew up with parents that the taught me to embrace the differences of others, so when I found out about John having lesbian parents, I just thought it was super cool,” Karakorn said. Barmore continued to construct a friend group that embraced him and his family.

Getting through it

Using his own parents as inspiration, Barmore dealt with his situation through the development of strong character, for which his mothers had already laid the foundations.

“Over time I started to embrace my situation,” Barmore said. “I think my parents being so open with their own sexuality inspired me to embrace my uniqueness.” Gradually, he became confident and adapted.

“I decided that I wouldn’t let my classmates’ opinions on my situation affect me.”

His resilience to conformity was reflected in his attire.

“I painted my nails, pierced my ears and basically did anything that would set me apart from the norm.” Barmore believes the circumstances into which he was born will continue to have a positive impact and hopes to continue pushing social norms. story and photo by javier cuevas

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HA NA GA LVIN

THE PAINTER Spending hours and hours on end in her bedroom with earbuds in, tuning out the world. With nothing but her paints and a blank canvas sitting at her desk with. Hair up and her glasses adjusted, this is how sophomore Hana Galvin likes to spend her free time.

Galvin started painting at a very young age but before she pursued that kind of art style, she would draw anything and everything that inspired her. “I first began doing things like drawing and painting when I was probably like 7, but it got more serious at the moment that I started middle school,” she said.

Since then she has worked on her painting skills and says that she has gotten better and learned a lot. “I just adapted,” she said. “I would try and keep trying. I wouldn’t call it

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ideal/perfect but, after I kept on trying over and over, I progressed and got to where I am now.”

She has been working to perfect her craft and she does this by focusing on her inspiration. “Sometimes I am inspired by pictures of things that I have seen or I’ll just think of something really cool in my head and try to make it,” she said. “I get inspired by a lot of artists that I have seen on social media and friends are also into art I will see where they are and want to do better.”

Galvin is passionate when it comes to painting one day, she hopes to pursue her dream art project. “A very big mural or something, I am not sure yet what it would be but something like really big, it would probably be wall art.” Wall art is her go to just like the

art around Seminole Heights.

Even though she loves to paint she would not pursue it as a career. “I just don’t think it would be something I’d want to do all of the time. For a professional career I would pursue something more academic.” However, she says she will never stop painting because of her love for it. “I would probably do art as something on the side.”

Galvin loves to paint it is a hobby and a talent of hers that she has been perfecting over time and shall continue to work on.

“Painting was just there as something I really liked doing and I just never stopped doing it,” she said. story and photos by adrianna rodriguez

Meet Maya’s birds Charlie: A male gray cockatiel who is friendly and loves to cuddle.

He prefers humans to otherbirds.

Lemon: A male yellow budgie.

Snowball: Possibly male budgie who is white and slightly teal.

Jen: A lutino female cockatiel who is more aggressive and territorial than Charlie and always gets her way.

THE BIRD WHISPERER

MAYA MOR A LES Maya Morales can draw any type of bird, except budgies.

Morales, a freshman, has six birds of her own. The birds are a variety of colors and species, including two cockatiels and four “budgies” or budgerigars. The birds -- Charlie, Lemon, Snowball, Jen, Kiwi and Crystal-were fairly recent additions to her family. “I got Charlie on Oct. 14 of last year, Lemon, Snowball, and Kiwi sometime in June, Jen right after that, and Crystal came on June 30,” Morales said.

The decision to increase the avian population of her home was the result of careful consideration. Morales’ mother is allergic to dog and cat fur and is afraid of rodents and reptiles. “She says that fish are boring,” Morales said. “So I landed on birds and surpris-

ingly she actually said yes.”

Morales first began drawing birds the day she got Charlie, her gray cockatiel. “Charlie is the friendliest out of all our birds, and is super cuddly,” Morales said. Charlie is the only one of her birds which Morales likes to draw, and aside from him she draws a general variety of birds. “I’m best at toucans and macaws, but I’m starting to expand my drawing range to other species and animals” Morales said.

Morales also created an original character, a toucan named Netflix. He was named after a friend misheard Morales and though his name was “Netflix the Toucan.” This led her to join a community for birds on the app Amino.

The bird community on Amino is extensive with almost 14,000 members. Morales recently applied to be a curator, one step below

Kiwi: A female green budgie with a yellow head.

Crystal: A fancy blue and white budgie who gets along well with others.

a leader of the community. “I got it first try, so now I help lead that community along with someone else who got in,” Morales said. “The leadership means a lot to me and everyone else who applied.”

The community also has clubs, such as an art club and a photography club, and holds public challenges every two weeks to a month.

These art challenges are what led Morales to extend her range of drawings to a variety of bird species. She can now draw almost any species except for budgies. “For some reason, I can’t draw them to save my life.” Morales said. “It’s the beak that stumps me.” story by reema patel photos courtesy maya morales

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THE ILLUSTRATOR K ELLY PALMA CORON A Sophomore Kelly Palma-Corona learned to draw before he learned how to read or write. At age 3, with no phone or television to awaken his creative side, he looked no further than the books in his room for inspiration.

By flipping through the picture books and practicing, sometimes for hours at a time, Corona taught himself to draw with no formal training. At age 8, he began selling his drawings for a living.

Corona can often be found perfecting his drawings at lunch, sitting alone with his headphones in amid the havoc of the H Patio. He finds himself with less time to draw at school since he came to Hillsborough last year and spends most his time at home drawing as a result. He previously went to school in Clearwater and had fewer classes to occupy his time.

“I’m usually just home alone,” Corona said.

“I’m not allowed to do anything because I’m grounded, so I mostly just practice drawing.”

Corona has sold his drawings to over 220 people. He frequently takes commissions, but requires that his customers pay him in advance to ensure he isn’t wasting time. His prices range from $5 for a small drawing to

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$20 for a full page. Along with physical pieces of art, Corona also sells digital art online. He promotes his business through social media and an online presence, as well as through his network of friends.

His drawings are inspired by nearly anything, as he has very little preference for a specific subject matter. The most recent subject he interests himself in is city skyline. He’s been practicing drawing several cities, specifically Tokyo and New York City.

Although Corona’s rang of subject matter is wide, he doesn’t draw people. “The only thing I can’t draw is people,” Corona said. “I’ve been practicing but I’m not that good” Corona’s pieces rarely involve color and sketches in black and white are his preferred medium. “I don’t like doing the coloring,” Corona said. “I just do black and grey. It’s better like that because I don’t have ideas for color.” Along with a pencil, there’s one tool that remains essential to his process. “I can use a ruler to draw anything,” he said.

Corona hides his side hustle from his parents, who don’t approve of him selling his artwork to others. “They’re jealous,” Corona

said. He keeps his drawings hidden from his mother along with his frequent trips to deliver his artwork to customers.

He often hitches a ride to Clearwater, where he used to live, from a friend to visit his old friends and neighbors who still purchase his art along with his cousins.

On certain Sundays, when his mother is at work, Corona also ventures south to Miami to sell his drawings using rather unconventional transportation.

He finds a ride to the beach to meet up with a friend who ferries him to Miami by boat. The journey takes about two hours each way, he said, and Corona is able to reunite with old friends and sell some art.

Corona’s family plans to move to Alabama for his stepfather’s job when he turns 18 next year, which could throw a wrench in his plans to continue selling artwork to friends in Florida. At least for now, Corona intends to continue creating artwork and selling it. story by reema patel photo by tammy nguyen

The Rainbow Alliance (GSA) is sponsored by social studies teacher Katty Francis. “We listed problems within our school and we found out Hillsborough is the most accepting,“ Padilla said. (Padilla is bottom row second from the left) | photo courtesy lifetouch

THE PODCASTER

HE AVENLEE PADILL A It started in Ilza Rizzo’s geometry class when junior Heavenlee Padilla came up with the idea for next side hustle – Queer Talks.

“I get bored very easily, there is always something that I can be doing,” Padilla said.

At 13, Padilla lost her father and was then adopted into the family she has now. This made coming out a hard task for her. However, two years later, and she is taking the experience she gained while overcoming those obstacles and is using them to help others.

Queer Talks is a brand started by Padilla that consists of a podcast along with clothing.

Padilla has always had a love for clothes, she would go to the public library after school with her friends and just come up with sketches and ideas.

“I dress very differently, I was an E-Boy before being an E-boy was a thing, but if I can spread my message through whatever I wear I want to do that,” Padilla said.

Podcasts, however, are her escape.

“When I get lonely people talking consistently, it really helps me with my mental health,” Padilla said.

The Queer Talks podcast is a forum where Padilla can just be herself. She welcomes everyone no matter their sexual preferences or how they identify.

Down her right arm, Padilla has the word “perspective” written in various fonts and with some letters sideways and upside down.

“It’s written like that because you have to look at it differently to understand,” Padilla said. “You can walk up to me and you’ll think one way about me, or you can sit here and talk to me and we become friends and you see me a different way, regardless you’ll still see me differently than I see myself because we all have different perspectives.”

In the first episode of the podcast she tackles words she finds derogatory, a recent concert she’s been to and explains what her vision is for the Queer Talks brand: Inclusivi-

ty, “Just love bro.”

Kaylie Harkness, Padilla’s friend since age 4, has witnessed all the events that have taken place in her life. From when Padilla rejected Harkness’s initial request to be friends at age 4, through chasing her down to comfort her at her father’s funeral, to now supporting her in the beginning stages of her brand.

“It’s fun to see her follow this dream,” Harkness said. “When she has question’s I help her come up with answers, when there are designs she wants me to look at I can say ‘Oh I like that’, ‘This is ugly’, ‘I’m so wearing that” Padilla’s goal is to graduate with the Class of 2020, join the military and go to business school so that she can run Queer Talks and juggle other business like her father once did. story by kylie smith photo courtesy heavenlee padilla

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THE METAMORPHOSIS

ANGELINA MOLINA

At school, freshman Angelina Molina would be “disruptive, in a lot of drama,” and would make the first move when she got into fights, about five in sixth and seventh grade, She admits that she “had a really short temper.” In seventh grade, Molina tried to keep her temper but then lost it and made a “move” at a girl. Since sixth grade Molina has been through different schools, fights, “juvie,” judgment, moved to Florida. She is focusing more on herself and controlling her emotions.

Trouble

When she started eighth grade, she was caught with an illegal substance, which she said came from a classmate. After getting caught and questioned by the school, they expelled her for 90 days.

After a rumor was spread about how she got the drugs, her expulsion was extended to a year because the administration thought she might be lying, she said.

Three weeks after being expelled, her previous school, filed documents and records then decided to transfer her to a juvenile school for 180 days. She continued eighth grade there after meeting her new principal and counselors who helped her fix her flaws.

Improvement

When Molina first spoke with her counselor, they talked about how she could control

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her temper and block out the negative actions of others. Focusing on improving her reactions wasn’t always easy. While at the juvenile school, she met a girl who spread rumors about her.

Exercising restraint was one of her first tests. “Juvie isn’t bad if you do what you need to do,” Molina said. She went to her counselor and teachers instead and told them, “I don’t want to fight her because I’m trying to work on myself so I can get out of there and not get time added.” She learned that fighting will only make the situation worse.

Her path towards becoming a positive influence for others was a success. The school let Molina out two months early, so she was done with juvie on June 27.

A New Life

Instead of returning to her previous school, her aunt, Greisha Ortega, persuaded Molina’s mother to let Molina come to Tampa and live with her. Ortega’s sophomore daughter attends Leto High School and is also getting her associate’s degree at the same time.

“I see my daughter succeeding, but I see my niece in trouble, so I thought if she sees her cousin doing so good that could influence her to push even harder, and do even better,” Greisha said. “So that’s my goal to make sure she’s influenced the right way so she can finish

high school and not get in no more trouble cuz there’s nothing in the streets.”

In August, Greisha bought Molina a oneway ticket from Pennsylvania to Tampa to live with her and her daughter. As Molina left her hometown, she wasn’t nervous.

Everything happened so fast to her that she didn’t feel sad until the plane ascended and then she truly realized things were changing. Now, she attends Hillsborough and is just trying to get used to navigating a bigger school.

“I know I’m going to be around drama since it’s a big high school but I’m just trying to avoid all that,” Molina said. She’s trying to join a club and put her focus more on that.

Molina still calls her parents almost every day.

Classmate and friend Dillon Williams says Angelina is “competitive, she’s fun, she likes sports, and she plays videogames,” and doesn’t seem like she was in juvie because she’s such a sweet person.

Molina doesn’t want what happened to her to happen to others. “Just stop, as soon as they get that warning that they’re going to get expelled of transferred, because juvie isn’t terrible but it’s not fun to go through and not nice to have on your record.” story by edilawit seyoum photo by tammy nguyen

THE DANCER SERGIO BO G A N The music is blasting, his dance outfit is on and he’s warming up. He runs through his daily routines and starts to dance. Once his choreography begins, he’s very focused and relaxed. Everything about the way he moves -his feet, arms and head -- all are coordinated with the beat and bass of the music. The way that he dances lightly on his feet seems like he has been taught professionally.

Self-taught dancer junior Sergio Bogan began his hobby at just 2 years old. At first, he thought of it more as a comedy but after a while he started to take it seriously. Inspired by the famous dancers, “Lez Twins,” the “Ayo and Teo brothers” and “Michael Jackson,” he wanted to be just like them. Never taking any dance classes, the dancer has made a lot of progress.

“I find that dancing is another way to show who I am and what I’m trying to say,” Bogan said. Not many people at school know about his inner side therefore he finds dancing to be a way to reveal his personality along with relieving any stress that he might have.

Currently, his two favorite songs to dance

to are “Million Dollar Mansion” by Lil Keed and “Maybe” by Alina Baraz. He chooses the songs that he dances to by his mood and his feelings.

His favorite style of dance is Memphis Jookin which consists mostly of footwork.

He feels the song more and can hit every note while dancing this style. “I was watching one of my favorite dancers on YouTube, “GirlThatsGrim” and he was doing this certain type of dance. I didn’t know what it was called but then I started to mimic what he was doing. Eventually I got it but I still didn’t know what the name was so I made a dance video doing the moves and I asked my fan base if anyone knew what it was called and they told me what it was,” Bogan said.

Since Bogan teaches himself he mainly practices at home but he also dances anywhere. Every day for two to three hours, he’s running through the routines and learning new skills. “I love all types of dancing. I just thrive more in hip hop.” He learns by freestyling and trying anything that occurs while he’s practicing.

Sergio Bogan demonstrates dance moves he taught himself.

“I find that dancing is another way to show who I am and what I’m trying to say,” he said. | photos by asher montgomery

Bogan’s consistent dancing of more than 14 years has influenced one of four of his siblings. His little sister, Rayana Bogan, is now inspired to dance after seeing her brother’s marvelous skills. “I want to be just like my brother because I love the choreography that he creates,” Rayana said.

Being supported by his fan base he continues to thrive in his passion. “We tell Sergio to keep dancing because we think that it could really take him somewhere in the future,” his mom, Sierra Hicks, said.

His friends are very supportive of his hobby as well. “He’s so smooth, it’s amazing,” junior Asiyah Ali-Salahuddin said. “Omg Sergio is an amazing dancer,” junior Rea Jefferson said.

Not really yearning for a future or career in his hobby, Bogan continues to dance for fun. His passion for dance continues as he’s always ready to learn new moves for the future as well as putting on a performance for all who watch. story by meredith yen

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Welch’s ideal turkey sandwich: 1. Mustard on one side, other is dry 2. Turkey 3. Swiss cheese 4. Tomato 5. Onion 6. Spinach 7. Salt 8. Pepper 9. A little vinegar

LEFT Welch from 2007 posing in a London hotel lobby. RIGHT Welch now feeling super about his transformation. | photo (left) courtesy michael welch photo right by john doan

THE SUPERBAD

MICH A EL WELCH

For most of his life, math teacher Michael Welch was always a big person. He was large in middle school, large in high school, and he wasn’t happy about it.

While he attended Hillsborough, he earned the name Superbad for his resemblance to the actor Jonah Hill.

“I was like, ‘Oh yeah this is great.’ But now, looking back at it, I’m like oh yeah, he’s a fat kid. I think it’s funny now. I was unphased by it,” Welch said about his nickname. He was comfortable with his size back then, but after high school he wanted to change.

Things were super bad

Welch and his girlfriend at the time moved to Tallahassee to attend college. After a while, she moved back to Tampa and he stayed to finish graduate school. “Being apart didn’t work very well for me. To handle it, I ended up self-destructing a lot, eating a lot, drinking a lot; doing bad stuff that college kids do and I gained a lot of weight,” Welch said. After his self-destructive streak, he weighed 340 pounds.

Welch eventually dropped out of graduate school and moved back to Tampa, where he felt a lot better. He felt happier since he was home, and he was feeling better about his life. But to the doctors, he was in big trouble.

“When the doctors said I was in really bad shape, that was the trigger for me to get better.”

His unhealthy lifestyle was getting in the way of his life. He proposed to his girlfriend, now wife, Henrie Welch, because he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could.

After reality hit him, Welch decided it was time to hit the gym.

Time to hit the gym

On his own, he lost 50 pounds just by dieting and moving around more than he used to.

290 pounds was definitely lighter than what he used to weigh, but it wasn’t where Welch wanted to be. “I was working out, but it wasn’t anything serious,” Welch said. However, help was on its way. Josh Graves was Welch’s friend in high school. Last year, Graves moved to Tampa from New York with his girlfriend.

The last time Welch saw Graves, he was a skinny kid. Graves didn’t like how he looked so, in college, he built the body he wanted to have. Graves the same weight as Welch does now, but “it’s all muscle,” Welch said. When he found out that Graves was in town, he contacted him immediately.

For the first few months of their workouts, Welch paid for both of their gym memberships at Planet Fitness. The pair would work out four or five times every week at first, motivating each other to be consistent in their attendance at the gym. “Just having someone else there; it forces you to be accountable. Are we going today? The answer is always yes. I’m going, so you’re going,” Welch said.

Not bad, Superbad

In September of this year, Welch checked his body mass index, BMI. He’d tested his BMI many times before, but it wasn’t until now that he saw a change. For the first time ever, he had finally moved out of the category of being morbidly obese to just obese. “Final-

ly, I’m not gonna die!” Welch said.

His workout routine wasn’t the only factor that helped him to get to where he is now. He changed his diet as well. “You don’t get to be that big by having a good diet,” Welch said. He used to consume anywhere between 3,000 to 4,000 calories a day.

His diet now is much stricter. On any given day, you can find him making dinner for himself out of brown rice, vegetables and vegetarian burger patties. He counts his calories, portions his foods, even brings his own lunch to work. Welch doesn’t eat red meat anymore, he found that he’s better off by just eating peanut butter, vegetables, beans and vitamins.

His mind was set on improvement.

He always has numbers in his mind, goals he wants to continue to meet. He closely monitors his meals to ensure that he’s eating the best foods he possibly can.

It took six months, but Welch finally had a set routine for the gym. He goes so often now that whenever he misses a day at the gym, it makes him feel physically sick. “It’s very easy to become apathetic towards my goals.

I always have a number, as far as the scale in mind, or the amount of weight I can lift in mind. We’re constantly going up in things.”

Now, Welch weighs 225 pounds and is still working on getting smaller. “He’s been doing really well with staying healthy, and I’m really happy for him,” Henrie said. “He’s working out to stay around longer, and it looks like he’s going to be around for a while.” story by john doan photo by tammy nguyen

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JA Z ZMINE ANDERSON The bells rings to signal the beginning of A Lunch. Students gather around the H Patio to sit down and eat. In the distance among the chatter of the students, music can be heard coming from a mini speaker belonging to freshman musician Jazzmine Anderson.

Tamie Nguyen, a freshman, had been listening to Anderson’s songs since middle school. “Sometimes she’ll make songs and raps and then she’ll go to our group of friends and ask our opinions on them.”

Nguyen added that it gives Anderson “good feedback” on her writing.

Many friends, like Nguyen (no relation to the photographer for this magazine), have supported her passion for years. Freshman Azaria Masso stated how she would also listen to her songs.

“Back in eighth grade, Jazzmine would always sing for us her lyrics.” Masso also mentions the enthusiasm Jazzmine had for her songs and how, “Her lyrics were always inspirational.”

For Anderson, writing songs and getting into the creative process was simple and purely from her mind. “I will just think of a topic and it all just flows.

I know when I watch TV I see people balling up paper. I don’t do that because all my thoughts are raw.

It’s how I feel no matter what I will not change my thoughts for people to like what I have to say.”

Anderson’s beginnings with writing songs weren’t always so smooth. “When I was a kid I went through a lot like my mom and brother leaving,” Anderson said, “When they left me, I felt abandoned.” She said that this event caused her to write a song called ‘Let Go’ in the first grade. “It was about letting go of all your pain and stop looking at the past and making sure that you were better because of the things you went through.”

A year after the events, Anderson wrote another song called ‘Heart Broken’ about her family leaving. “...something must have hurt my whole family so bad for them to leave me,” she said. The pain Anderson feels causes her to write songs about her troubles. “I write whenever I feel something since it’s hard for me to express myself.”

Nothing can stop Anderson from chasing and pursuing her dreams and hobbies. “It does not matter. I can sing in rain, snow, sad days, happy days. My songs come to me at any and all times.” story by danielle castro photo by tammy nguyen

THE BARBER

SH ON TAV I S N A Z IER Barbering is not only a skill, its an art. This is sophomore Shontavis Nazier’s second year in barbering and he loves it. “When a person looks clean, when you’re done its like Dang! I really did that.”

He also added that he was one of the first students to cut hair and he’s worked really hard to get where he is now. Although he still has a long way to go, he’s ambitious and eager for a challenge. “I am planning on doing everything,” he said.

Over the course of the year Nazier’s clientele has grown as he proceeds to make his skills more known by people around school. “I started posting it on Instagram (@ tavisnazaire) and after that people just asked me and when they see it,” he said. Nothing but positive reactions. “It looks pretty nice I like it, actually its different that other cutters at Hillsborough. I felt confident and I trusted

him,” one of his clients, Sergio, said. He also added that he would “Most Definitely” would have Nazier cut his hair again.

As I watched him, he was in deep concentration he was very focused and cautious. He finds barbering relaxing and he enjoys doing it.

Since he’s still learning he does most of his haircuts for free. “Whenever somebody asks, I got them. I try to get in as many haircuts as possible at least once a week.”, he said. “Most of the time its for free but sometimes they really like the cut and they give me money for it.”

Nazier is working hard and trying to improve. Not only does he sees it but his teacher and clients do as well. Barbering teacher Omar Johns had a lot of positive things to say about Nazier and his progress over the year. “So, from last year to this year I feel like

Shontavis has excelled a lot, he’s very hungry and wants to learn more and more every day, he also seems to truly enjoy it,” he said. “One of his teachers pulled me aside and said how excited he was when he did his first haircut, that he was jumping for joy. I truly believe that he might actually be a barber to he’s got two more years and it will work out and he’ll be able to finish with his barbering license.”

Nazier has got his own pair of clippers and he works on his younger brothers and friends.

He may not know how to do everything yet but he has good work ethic.

He also really wants to pursue barbering as a professional career. Nazier loves what he does and is willing to learn. photo and story by adrianna rodriguez

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IAN GUNDERSON THE POOL PLAYER Tension looms in the air at Brewlands Pool Hall on the night of Thursday, Oct. 31. The time is 7 p.m., and most of the pool players have completed their warmups and are ready to commence the tournament.

Senior Ian Gunderson, the youngest participant of the night, calmly surveys the competition. For the next three hours, he will play alongside the team Dead Man Chalking in the 9-Ball tournament and the team GR8 Balls of Fire in the 8-Ball tournament.

Gunderson plays alongside competitors twice his age, but thwt doesn’t deter him.

Gunderson has been playing since he was 9, using his father as inspiration. “My father has been playing since the age of 17 and now manages the team I am playing on,” Gunderson said. “I have learned so much from him in the past years.”

The game of pool requires concentration

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in order to carry out the meticulous movements involved, which is what interested Gunderson the most. “The best part about pool is learning how to manipulate the cue ball by controlling its velocity and using different kinds of spin,” Gunderson said. These spins include the left- and right-hand English, draw, stop, follow and massé.

The tournaments in which Gunderson participates include 8-Ball and 9-Ball pool, the latter being his strong suit. “Typically, I do better at 9-Ball because I’m really good at lagging, which is more beneficial in that specific game,” Gunderson said. “I enjoy playing 9-Ball because in order to win, you have to put in a certain amount of balls.” He said playing 9-Ball is less demanding of him, due to 8-Ball having a more extensive method of victory. “In 8-Ball, you win matches by winning a certain amount of games, which creates

more pressure for me personally.”

For being the only high school student on the team, Gunderson has accumulated a large sum of victories throughout his career.

As of now, his win percentage currently sits at around 60 percent for 9-Ball and around 45 percent for 8-Ball. Gunderson attributes the disparity between the percentages to the level of competition in the respective categories.

“Typically, I play higher ranked players in 8-Ball, which makes it harder to win games,” Gunderson said.

The attainment of victory is not what drives Gunderson. Instead, he focuses more on the benefits of each experience. “I have always enjoyed playing the game of pool, and I feel like I like it more each time I play. I am excited to keep playing and develop my skills further.” story and photos by javier cuevas

T YR IQ JA ME S The game is his life. Whenever he is in a bad situation, he plays just to make sure he does not do anything wrong.

This year, senior Tyriq James is the captain for the sport he loves so much: basketball.

His love for the game started at a young age. “I didn’t want to get in trouble so I just started playing basketball to keep me busy and to keep me focused,” James said.

James has been on the team for a longtime and his experience and pure talent makes many of the younger players believe in him. “He has experience for the past four years he’s been playing varsity for the past three years,” freshman Ishaan Bhadouri. “He can knock down shots from anywhere, he can get to the basket, he has a good handle, and he can play defense.”

James tries to be the best leader he can be on and off the court. He believes God is helping him coach up the new guys. “I got to make sure the new guys know what they are getting them selves into and be prepared,” James said.

Everyone takes their cues from James so he tries to be the best person he can be on and off the court. “They look at me as the leader,” James said. “Whatever I do they think is good for them so I try my best to do what is right so I can lead them in a positive way.”

He loves the game so much it is just what he wants to do. He is always working to be the best player he can be.

Every night he goes outside and practices. He doesn’t care who he plays with as long as they have a love of the game.

His parents put this love in him at a young age. “They have supported me by coming to all my games and practicing with me,” James said. “They’ve been working with me since I was a kid just teaching me the ins and outs of the game.

They motivate me every day so I know I can do it. Some people may not have the skill or the support cast that I have.”

His main inspiration to play the game was his dad. “My daddy used to play and I just wanted to follow in his footsteps because if he did it, I knew I could do it,” James said. story by patrick mccurdy photo courtesy lifetouch

A special edition of the [r&b] | Florida’s First High School Newspaper Hillsborough High School | 5000 N. Central Avenue | Tampa FL 33603 | hhstoday.com Fall 2019 | Volume 121, Issue 3