The Growl - Feb. 2013

GROWL The Growl

1

THE

A Student Publication of Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy

Seniors Share Their Bucket Lists

February 2013

The Growl

2 THE

GROWL Volume 10

Issue 4

Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy 5625 Holy Trinity Drive Melbourne, FL 32940 (321) 723-8323 news@htes.org Ally Neutze Editor-in-Chief Megan McCreery Feature Editor Patrick Black Opinion Editor Bobby Forman Web Editor Catie Sergis Sports Editor Staff Reporters Andrea Bomalaski Suzannah Boyle Paige Golson Alyssa Nelson Jenny Ryan Sam Woods

Adviser Jim Hale Headmaster Catherine A. Ford Printing Indian River Press Cover Photo Senior Karina Mann sits

by Lake Catherine and sips lemonade. A class gathering around the lake is on her Bucket List.

The Growl is published monthly during the school year by students of Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy. The publication is a public forum, with its student editorial board making all decisions concerning its contents.

Unsigned editorials express the view of the majority of the editorial board.

Letters to the editor are welcomed and will be published as space allows.

Letters must be signed and will be verified.

The paper reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and clarity, and all letters are subject to laws governing obscenity, libel, privacy and disruption of the school process, as are all contents of the paper.

Op i n i o n s i n l e t t e r s ar e not necessarily those of the staff, nor should any opinion expressed in a public forum be construed as the opinion or policy of the administration, unless so attributed.

Crossing it off their list

By Ally Neutze As many adults enter the age where they become known as senior citizens, they begin to reflect back on their lives -- what they have done, things they wish they would have done, regrets, failures, accomplishments.

They can’t change what they have already done, but many make a promise to themselves to fulfill life dreams or goals before they die -- more commonly known as a bucket list.

Maybe it’s a trip to Rome to throw a penny in the Tevi Fountain, or taking a monthlong road trip across the country to explore the states. However, things that are on senior citizens’ bucket lists vary greatly from those of seniors in high school.

One of the most common items on high school seniors’ bucket lists is skydiving.

“I want to go skydiving before I graduate from high school,” said Lexi Joseph. “I think it would be a lot of fun.”

Some seniors want to learn how to do things.

“I want to learn how to tap dance,” said Matt Vickers. “I have wanted to learn ever since I was a little kid and my parents took me to watch plays on Broadway. I love the flow and rhythm of it all and I would love to be able to do that.”

Ryan Collins and Nick Hamer share a unique item on their bucket list. Ever since freshman year, the two have looked forward to crossing it off.

“I’d definitely love to punch Mr. Lovelace back one time when he punches me,” said Hamer.

“Me too. I want to be able to punch him back and say, ‘Hey

kid,’” said Collins.

Other seniors also need Mr. Lovelace to help them complete their list.

“I want to go out in the wetlands behind the school and catch frogs,” said Emily Jameson. “I never got to take Field Ecology so I haven’t gotten to have that experience yet.”

“I want to get a group of friends and camp out at one of the islands on the Banana River near Tropical Trail.”

-- Idi Perez Some seniors have more serious and emotional items on their bucket list.

“I want to laugh until I cry with a complete stranger,” said Dolan Bortner.

Idi Perez wants to cross off an adventurous item from her list.

“I want to get a group of friends and camp out at one of the islands on the Banana River near Tropical Trail,” said Perez.

“We would bring everything out there and just camp out by the fire.”

Lauren Ferrara wants to speak in chapel before she graduates.

“I want to talk to the student body about bullying because I won first place at a state competition for a speech contest that I wrote on bullying,” said Ferrara. “It’s a huge issue that I really care about because I was

bullied at my old school.”

Karina Mann wants to get the entire senior class together as part of her bucket list.

“As a class, I think we should all have a party at Lake Catherine,” said Mann. “Like we should have water wings and popsicles and tanning. It would be a blast, but I don’t know how the faculty would feel though.”

Administration might also not like one of McKenzie Altman’s items.

“I want to drive the golf cart around school. It’s always just sitting there with the keys in it, and it just seems so tempting to take it,” said Altman.

Many senior athletes like Marques Burgman and Cole Oliver have ambitions of winning state titles in track.

“I want to win state individually in the 300 hurdles or 110 hurdles,” said Burgman.

“We won as a team before, but this year I want to win individually.”

“I want to run the mile in 4:16 and win individually at state this year,” said Oliver.

At every high school, the seniors of each year attempt a senior skip day and a senior prank or two. After a slew of terrible skip days and lame pranks, this year’s seniors seem to want to break the tradition and make their skip day and prank the best.

“I want to pull a great senior prank because no one in the past has,” said Johnny Gomez. “We have four or five ideas -- don’t worry, it won’t be a hole.”

The Growl

3

The Problem with Homework

By Patrick Black Although homework is a part of school, students on average do about three and a half hours of homework a day on top of any extracurricular activities. This large amount of homework begs the question: Is the homework truly helping? And, if so, is that amount really necessary?

Most students find that homework is really helpful, using it to review and practice the given material before a test.

“I find homework useful,” said junior Hojoon Choi. “It is a good review for the tests and sometimes a good preview.”

“In general I find the homework to be useful and not a waste of time, especially in math and physics,” said senior Jack Olinde.

“Homework helps me study,” said eighth grader Michael Ferrara. “Doing it helps. It can be tedious, but it always helps.”

Teachers usually make their assignments to give students the most benefits out of the homework.

“I look at the problems and try to pick the ones that are the most relevant,” said Mrs. Ann Rouse. “There is an objective to every lesson, so I choose ones that will best prepare you for that objective.”

“I try to get students to engage the material,” said Mr. Greg Chiarella. “I try to show them where the information is.”

Despite its benefits, the amount of homework still bombards students.

“I have a lot of homework,” said junior Rachael Cantelou. “It takes me about four hours to do. It is helpful, but I would like less.”

“There is so much homework it is the only thing besides my job that I can do,” said senior Krista Tillman. “It takes me a couple of hours to do it, but I space it out.”

“Homework takes me three to four hours a day,” said junior Devon Pishalski.

“With baseball and homework, I go to bed around midnight to 1:00.”

“I have about four hours worth of homework on a weekday and eight hours on a weekend,” said sophomore Nick Belston.

Belston also does several extracurricular activities including saxophone, piano, robotics, and Tri-M Music Honor Society that take two and half hours out of his day on top of the time it takes to do homework.

Many students agree that there is probably a better way to get the benefits of homework without the time drain.

“The concept of homework is good, but I don’t find it terribly useful,” said junior Josh Unum. “I feel doing practice in class can be just as efficient.”

“Homework is helpful, but inefficient,” said Belston. “I can get a lot more help in much less time. It helps with practice, but I don’t need ‘one through 40 odd’ to get the

help I need.”

Some teachers know that too much homework ends up being busywork rather than a study tool.

“I try to give students the minimum amount of practice they need,” said Mr. Trevor Herntier. “If more practice is needed, then they can do it on their own. I don’t like to use homework as a grade. That is what tests are for.”

However, teachers still want students to do their homework for more reasons than simply grading them.

“I never assign busywork,” said Mrs. Judy Baxter. “The homework is so I can teach them. If they are not prepared, then my lesson is ruined. I can only teach so much in 48 minutes, so homework is a necessity.”

Mr. Chiarella believes how you apporoach homework can really influence its effectivness.

“I try to convey to students the correlation between effort on homework and the grades on their exams,” said Mr. Chiarella. “The right attitude is important.

If you have a negative attitude, then there is no benefit. If you have a positive attitude, then it helps you learn. Is all homework great? No, but it is still valuable.”

The Growl

4

An Experiment in Random Dating

HTMatch.com

By Catie Sergis For many high schoolers, February 14th is a day of love, happiness, and a celebration of finding someone special.

However, for those who don’t have someone to celebrate with this day, it’s not always as blissful. That’s why I decided this year should be different for those that don’t have someone to share Valentine’s Day with.

Three girls and three guys took a compatibility test weeks before Valentine’s Day to see who they would be most attuned with. Junior Alliyah Stephens and senior Tanner Crouch went on a simple date to the frozen yogurt shop, Redberry, in order to see if they would be a good match. Going into the date Stephens didn’t think much of it.

“I only expected to be there for 30 minutes, but we ended up staying for more than an hour,” said Stephens.

“The date went great. We talked for a really long time, and I would love to go on another date with Aliyah,” said Crouch.

Aside from being surprised that the date went on longer than expected, Stephens was also surprised about the outcome of the date.

“It was really cold, so getting frozen yogurt was probably a bad idea, but it was still a good date. The conversation was good since Tanner is funny, and he was a good date because he got me napkins and water,” said Stephens.

Even though this match might not be seen together on a romantic date on Valentine’s Day, Stephens would still enjoy seeing again.

“I would definitely hangout with Tanner again, we had a good time,” said Stephens.

Though senior Mckenzie Altman has a special someone to spend Valentine’s Day

with, she still wanted to see how compatible she and sophomore Jimmy Reinman would be. They took a different route on their date then Aliyah and Tanner.

“We played tennis on the courts at school, and it was really fun. I didn’t know how to play, so Jimmy taught me to swing, then we played a little pickup game. He was getting competitive, but it was ok because I’m competitive too,” Altman said.

“We had a nice romantic morning. We shared some laughs, shared some memories, and we had a nice time,” Reinman said.

Compatibility Survey 1. Gender: 2. Height: 3. Your best quality: 4. The first thing you notice about somebody: 5. On your first date you would go where: 6. Three words to describe your ideal match: 7. Three words to describe yourself: 8. Type of music you prefer: 9. Favorite TV shows: 10. Favorite bands:

Even though it was a mutual agreement that they were both having a great time, Altman’s current relationship did affect her date with Reinman.

“The date was fun, but it got weird when Mckenzie’s current boyfriend appeared, but whatever it’s cool,” said Reinman.

At first Altman didn’t know if Reinman was her most compatible pick. However, as the date went on, she soon realized she couldn’t have asked for anyone better.

“I thought Tanner and I would be paired together because our tests were almost identical, but then I realized Jimmy and I were more compatible. We never had any conflicts picking the date, and he was the sweetest guy I could possibly have been paired with,” said Altman.

“I’m so glad I got paired up with Mckenzie, we were very compatible. I wouldn’t want to be paired up with anyone else, besides Michelle Obama. If Mckenzie wasn’t dating Nick we would probably be dating,” said Reinman.

Since their date went so well, both agreed they would like to hang out with each other again.

“I would go out with Jimmy again, he’s not one of those guys that goes out with you then ignore you in the halls,” Altman said.

“Her ability to make anything enjoyable and her eyebrows made her a great date. I would go out with Altman any day. Actually, I was planning on asking her out right now,” Reinman confirmed.

I was very happy to hear that both of these couples had a great time on their dates, and that they all were good matches.

However, seniors Casey Nierenberg and

The Growl

Emily Jameson didn’t have the luck that the other couples seemed to get.

“Casey took me to Dakine’s and the beach, but it was 7:00 at night and 40 degrees outside, so it wasn’t very good,” Jameson said.

“The date went awful, she left me halfway through. I think it was because I told her I wanted to marry her, because it went south after that,” Nierenberg said.

Jameson was a little gloomy that the date didn’t go very well.

“I thought the date was going to be a lot of fun, because he was my kindergarten boyfriend, and we just had a lot of chemistry

5

back then,” said Jameson.

Jameson was very definite when she told me she wouldn’t want to go on another date, since she left the first date early. However, Nierenberg was more optimistic about his and Jameson’s future.

“I would never say no to a date with Emily Jameson,” said Nierenberg.

So who knows, maybe with Nierenberg’s consistency, we will see these two on an outing in the near future.

Even though we might not see these particular couples together on the big, romantic holiday, all of these students can agree that they were happy overall that they

tried meeting new people. This experiment within the student body will hopefully urge others in the school to try new things, because who knows what is waiting for you in the future. So, this Valentine’s Day, try putting yourself out there, and have some fun.

Sophomore Jimmy Reinman and senior Mckenzie Altman enjoy a fun day on the tennis courts. Both students found they were in fact a compatible match.

The Growl

6

Picking up

By Jenny Ryan

With spring sports emerging, it is time for a new girls sport to take place at Holy Trinity. Girls lacrosse has always been a thought to add to our sports program, and this year the thought became a reality.

With head coaches Mr. and Mrs. Slattery, the season is sure to be filled with many memories. The girls have been working hard in preparation of their very first season.

This year the team will stay at the junior varsity level since there are a variety of ages.

Most of the girls on the team are brand new so Mrs. Slattery plans on getting them to all work together as a team. Although this is only Mrs. Slattery’s first time coaching, she already has many goals for her team.

“The goals of this season are to get everybody learning the rules and learning the game. Winning is just a bonus,” said Mrs. Slattery. “Throughout this season the popularity will grow and we want to make it as large as possible.”

Although this will be many people’s first time playing, this is not the case for freshman Maggie Funk who has been playing for two years. Funk was originally inspired to play when she saw her older brother, Zach playing and thought it looked like a lot of fun.

“My goals for the season are to get the team going good and win a few games,” said Funk. “I hope to help lead by giving the team the motivation to keep going.”

Seventh grader Bridget Funk has also been playing lacrosse for two years.

“I am most looking forward to more girls learning how to play the sport and understanding it. I hope to win at least one game and to make Holy Trinity Lacrosse an all around good team,” said Funk. “I plan to lead by helping them in little ways and helping explain things such as where to go during scrimmages or drills to help them understand.”

On the other side, many others are picking up a stick for the first time.

This will be sophomore Summer Rydson’s first year playing. She has been

working hard conditioning in preparation for the season.

“I need something to do in the off season of soccer and thought that lacrosse sounded like a lot of fun,” said Rydson. “I am very excited about this season and really want to score a goal and learn how to play properly.”

Senior Alyssa Chapman had a different reason for wanting to try lacrosse.

“I went up north this summer for a college visit and the coaches saw me playing football and soccer and they were really interested in what other sports I played. They told me that they thought I would be very good at lacrosse and they wanted me to try it,” said Chapman.

Chapman also hopes to help the team with her leadership skills.

“Though I may not be the best at first I hope to be somewhat of a leader to the young team,” said Chapman. “I really hope that I can be physical in this sport.”

Freshman Sydney Sergis will also be playing for the first time. Sergis hopes to win a few games and learn how to play.

“I decided to play because it is something different and new. I thought it would be something fun to do with my friends,” said Sergis. “Since it’s the first season I don’t think we will be super amazing, but my goals are to just have a good time and learn properly.”

Another first time player will be sophomore McKenna Ville. However, Ville has been watching the game for a couple of years now.

(Continued on the next page)

Right: Seventh grader Kate Starkey and the rest of the girls lacrosse team raise their sticks in preparation to catch the ball. The team is heading into the season with lots of excitement and anticipation.

The Growl

their sticks

7

The Growl

8

Girls lacrosse takes field for first time later this month (Continued from previous page) “My brother started playing and he loved it, so I was really excited when the school announced they would have a girl’s team this year,” said Ville. “I hope that by the end of the season I can understand the game since I have never played before and that we can get a team going so it will continue to grow.”

A younger, yet experienced player on the team is seventh grader Elysia Slattery. She has been playing on a girl’s club team for one year and played on boys’ teams for two years prior to that.

“My goal for the season is to make at least two goals,” said Slattery. “I want to help the team by leading them and helping in a nice way. I want to teach them how to do things with the proper form.”

Sophomore Emma Rylander is very excited about her first year of lacrosse.

“I wanted to play because lacrosse is such a fun, challenging, and trending sport.

Being the first year also makes it a great opportunity to start playing,” said Rylander.

“This season, I hope to become a better,

more versatile player and learning the fundamentals of the sport while bonding as a team,” she said.

Although the teams’ reasons for playing vary, some are inspired by their fellow teammate, Maggie Funk.

“The goals of this season are to get everybody learning the rules and learning the game.

Winning is just a bonus.”

-- Mrs. Slattery Freshman Taylor McHollan also looks forward to her first year playing.

“I first decided to play because I was inspired by Maggie and I thought it would be a great experience,” said McHollan. “By the end of the season I expect to be in better shape and have a better understanding of the game. I also hope to meet some new people.”

Another first timer is Freshman Olivia Pitten. Pitten has been doing conditioning with her team and looks forward to team bonding.

“I wanted to play because of Maggie.

She always seemed to have so much fun playing and I could just tell it would be a great sport to learn. I thought I would enjoy it too,” said Pitten.

“The program has had a lot of support and a huge turnout,” said Mrs. Slattery. “The program will only continue to grow.”

All the girls are motivated and ready to learn the game. Their first game will be held on February 23rd.

Below: The team practices scooping up ground balls during practice. All of the girls have been working hard in order to learn the game and practice proper form.

The Growl

9

W

ith vintage clothing becoming a fashionable trend, thrift stores have become a popular place for students to shop. Many students have had interesting experiences shopping at thrift stores.

Senior Veronica Paniccia and her sister, sophomore Vanessa Paniccia, visit the Goodwill in Merritt Island.

“I went to get some sweatshirts to sleep in and found this great Holy Land Experience one. It was like $4. The only downside is some of the stuff has sketchy stains and you never know what happened to the stuff you bought,” said Vanessa.

Junior Andrea Bomalaski shops at the Goodwill in Rockledge because of their clearance center.

“You walk in and there’s just rows of huge blue bins filled with clothes. They measure your clothes by weight. It’s a dollar a pound, so you can get your shirt for a nickel. It’s the greatest thing ever,” said Bomalaski.

Senior Matt Vickers looks for obscure items at thrift stores that he can’t find anywhere else. His favorite thrift store is the one located behind Guitar Heaven on U.S. 1, where he bought a trench coat.

“When I was shopping at a thrift store, this man walked up to me, and said the shirt I was holding was his. I said I was sorry and handed it to him. He said, ‘No, it used to be mine’ and walked away. It was really weird,” said Vickers.

Senior Neil Van Allen visits a wide variety of thrift stores.

“I usually go to Goodwill, Candle Lighters, and my favorite Trader Jake’s,” said Van Allen.

Van Allen hunts for DVDs and CDs which thrift stores usually sell for a dollar apiece.

Senior Dolan Bortner’s favorite thrift store is The Haven.

“I like to help disadvantaged children with my purchases. It’s a win-win scenario,” said Bortner.

Bortner looks for small articles of clothing in thrift stores.

“You know, socks and gloves, that type of thing,” Bortner said.

Students Get Thrifty

By Sam Woods

Van Allen has had some bad experience at thrift stores though.

“You never know what’s going to happen in a thrift store. Once I was about to purchase a Nirvana CD when I realized somebody had replaced the CD with a pornographic video,” said Van Allen.

“When I was shopping at the Holy Trinity thrift store, the cashier wouldn’t let me purchase anything. She would just stare at me, not saying anything, until I left,” said Van Allen.

Lots of students use thrift stores to shop for clothes for Spirit Day. “I like to use thrift stores to shop for my spirit week clothes. They have a lot of

unique items you wouldn’t find anywhere else,” said Veronica.

Junior Rachael Cantelou bought her old person clothes for Time Travel Day at Goodwill. Senior Munashe Chinyanganya also went to Goodwill for her Tyler Perry Medea costume.

“Goodwill has the stuff you need when nobody else does,” said Chinyanganya.

Sophomore Erin Magee searches through clothes at a thrift store located in Eau Gallie.

Many students use thrift stores to diversify their wardrobe.

The Growl

10

Soaring like an Eagle

By Megan McCreery It’s hard to believe that amongst so many of us, there are so few of them. In 2010, there were a little over 56,000 Boy Scouts who worked to become an Eagle Scout nationwide. Since 1911, there have been about two million Boy Scouts who reached the honor of becoming an Eagle Scout. It takes years and years to fulfill the many requirements to become an Eagle Scout by your 18th birthday.

In Holy Trinity’s senior class there are four young men that have already become an Eagle Scout, or are finalizing their projects and interviews: Allen Britten, Logan Lenhard, Calvin Quigley, and Matt Vickers.

“I started Boy Scouts when I was in the fifth grade because of my love for the outdoors. From the very beginning I knew I wanted to go all the way with it and become an Eagle Scout,” said Britten.

Boy Scouts has taught a wide variety of skills to these young men.

“I’ve been a scout since I was five, when I became a Tiger Cub. I’ve always loved Boy Scouts because it has given me many opportunities to try new things, develop my leadership skills, and prepare for the real world,” said Vickers.

These guys all started for a variety of reasons, but often the parents have some influence in their child going into Boy Scouts.

“I started Tiger Cubs when I was five years old. Now, 13 years later, I’m an Eagle Scout,” said Lenhard. “It was partially my dad’s influence because he wanted me to do it. Also, my best friend was starting too, and we wanted to do it together,” he said.

Although the time leading up to becoming a Eagle Scout can be slightly hectic and stressful, generally things are pretty relaxed with plenty of time for fun and learning.

“Throughout scouting I’ve gone on lots of campouts, learned first aid, become CPR certified, and was selected to go into the OA (Order of the Arrow), a prestigious scouting nomination process,” said Britten.

On the trip you were given limited food, weren’t allowed to talk all weekend, and were just given a flashlight, some water, a pocket knife, and a sleeping bag,” he said.

“That trip, along with the entire experience of Boy Scouts has given me life skills that I can use every day to better myself, my community, and the people around me.”

Matt Vickers has also enjoyed being a Boy Scout for so long.

“I had an opportunity to fly in a biplane; I’ve met Eagle Scouts from several other nations; I’ve traveled all across the country, and also I’ve made so many great friends,” said Vickers.

Lenhard especially enjoyed the time he spent in the youngest group of scouts, the Tiger Scouts.

“I really liked making little wooden cars and then racing them,” said Lenhard.

Each aspiring Eagle Scout must

“Becoming an Eagle Scout is truly a one up on life.”

-- Matt Vickers completely “plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community.” With this guidance in mind, the scouts have a lot of freedom to design their project in any way they choose.

“Being a Boy Scout rocks. I made signs to put up on all the beach crossovers for my Eagle Scout project,” said Calvin Quigley.

Britten decided to focus in on the HT community.

“I re-did the butterfly garden behind the Holy Trinity library. We (myself and student volunteers) took everything out and put chemicals down for ants, leveled

everything out, shaped and bordered two gardens, planted and mulched them, and put in a walkway to the dedication tree,” said Britten.

Matt Vickers also spent time at Holy Trinity working on his project.

“Mr. Del Buono and I installed new drains around Lake Catherine. We’re adding carp to it. The goal is to beautify Lake Catherine. The carp are going to eat all of the excess grasses out of the lake,” said Vickers.

Logan Lenhard saw a need in our community where he decided to do his project.

“For my Eagle Scout project, I built a bridge in Wickham Park to benefit the veterans and others who would use it,” said Lenhard.

Since generally parents do have an influence on their children entering Boy Scouts, these young men have already considered if they want their children to be involved with it.

“I’m definitely going to entertain the idea of being an Eagle Scout, but I won’t push it on my kids,” said Britten.

However, Vickers sees it differently.

“As soon as my kids turn of age, I’m putting them in Cub Scouts. And if I have any girls, I want them to be Venture Scouts,” said Vickers.

All of the guys agree that being involved in Boy Scouts at all the various levels has been not only educational, but rewarding for them.

“Being an Eagle Scout looks great on a resume because colleges recognize the skills it takes to become an Eagle Scout.

It really helped me to develop leadership skills as well as quick thinking abilities,” said Lenhard.

Vickers feels similarly.

“Becoming an Eagle Scout has been a 12 year goal for me,” he said. “Being an Eagle Scout opens many doors. Employers assume you have good leadership skills.

Becoming an Eagle Scout is truly a one up on life,” said Vickers.

The Growl

The Boy Scout Oath On my honor, I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Above: Senior Logan Lenhard worked hard in Wickham Park constructing his Eagle Scout project, a bridge to aid those taking a stroll in the park.

Right: Senior Allen Britten (at age 12) attends a Court of Honor, which is a ceremony held to award scouts for any awards or advancements they have worked for or earned. Currently, Britten has roughly 33 merit badges including Life Saving, First Aid, Wilderness Survival, Traffic Safety, and Fishing.

11

The Growl

12

By Munashe Chinyangangya

O

ne minute everything seems to be going well, but the next moment you find yourself wondering how you ever got yourself into this situation.

This is how Lily Goodlive felt when she went out on a dinner date.

“We went out to Outback and everything was going great. But when my date received the check for the food he realized he did not have enough money to pay. He then asked me if I could help pay for the meal, but I had no money on me. I ended up having to call my sister, who was also on a date, to come to Outback with her date and pay for the meal.”

At least Goodlive’s date had some money with him because this was not the case with my friend Shana.

“He asked me to the movies and when we got up to the booth to buy the tickets my date looked at me and asked me if I could pay because he had no money.” Let me say that again. He had no money! But was he not the one that asked her on the date? I just don’t understand.

When on a date you may be nervous and say things that you normally would not, but some statements are never ok.

Mrs. Wacaster’s best friend would know firsthand. She was on a first date with a boy she met while in college. On the date he felt the need to say, “You’re no troll, but I usually

Bad Dates date better looking girls than you.”

When you are on a date the main objective is to get to know someone better.

So can someone please explain to me why Allen Britten’s date was on her phone the entire time?

“I took her to dinner and a movie, but the entire date she was on her phone texting her friends. She was a pretty girl, but the only thing that seemed to concern her was what her friends thought.”

Or how about when you’re asked on a date by a boy who has just gotten out of a long term relationship? Jessica Lawrence had an awkward experience that she wishes she could forget.

“We were at dinner and I thought everything was going really well until we got on the topic of past relationships. He could not stop talking about all the things he did with his ex and how much he missed her. At that moment I no longer felt like I was on a date. I felt as if I was a counselor.

Just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get worse, his ex-girlfriend shows up with some of her friends to the restaurant. I guess my date forgot we were on a date or something because within seconds he was over at his ex-girlfriends table getting back together with her. I couldn’t believe what was happening right before my eyes. He

then awkwardly came back to the table and thanked me for getting him back together with his soul mate. I told him not to worry about giving me a ride back home because my friend was on her way. I don’t think his girlfriend even realized that he was on a date while they got back together. He never apologized to me or anything. I paid for my own dinner and left.”

No one goes into a date assuming that it is going to be a bad one, but honestly some things should be common sense.

Bring enough money for your date! Most likely they are not going to order the most expensive meal on the menu, but let’s not wait until you get the tab to figure that out!

If you ask a girl out do not insult her by saying that you have gone out with prettier girls than her. I honestly cannot believe I have to say that.

Do not ask someone on a date if you’re still not over your past relationship. There is also no need for one to be texting their friends while on a date. That is just rude.

No one made you go on the date so when you’re on one please act like it. I mean do I even have to elaborate on this?

Thankfully not everyone has had the experience of a bad date. I think everyone just needed a little reminder of what not to do.