The February Issue

ST. JOHN’S SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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2401 CLAREMONT LANE · HOUSTON, TX 77019

COURTESY PHOTOS

VOLUME 66 · ISSUE 5 · FEBRUARY 12, 2015

NOT ALL WHO WANDER ARE LOST

HOW ONE ALUMNA OVERCAME OBSTACLES

BY CLIMBING MOUNTAINS

Teaching Old Dogs (and Cats) New Tricks View an expanded gallery of teachers with their pets

Online NEWS..................2 FEATURES...........3

SPORTS..............5 BEYOND..............7

P3 North on I-45

Administrators Stephen Popp and Eric Lombardi find new homes within SPC IN FOCUS.............8 CULTURE...........10

OPINIONS.........13 ODDS & ENDS....15

COVER DESIGN BY JESSICA LEE

Center

Je Suis Charlie?

Gabe Malek considers the tenuous protections for free speech

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Project Resilience “It turns out staying happy and healthy takes a lot of energy.”

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NEWS

THE REVIEW I FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Community celebrates facets of Germany News Briefs Latin students dominate Certamen competition

SOPHIA LI

Guten tag Richard Appel, left, and Margaret Trautner examine a BMW outside the gym on International Day. International Club co-head Meghna Dara, left, pours Julia Moody a traditional German drink in front of the library display.

by Sadde Mohamed

As students strolled through a display of cars from the Mercedes-Benz dealership under Big Red while snacking on pretzels and sipping root beer, German culture came to life.

Planning for International Day, Jan. 28, consisted of hours of forethought and research by International Club.

“We started in August on the first day of school,” said senior Meghna Dara, co-head of International Club. “We had to decide what country we were doing and if there would be a chapel; if so, what goes into it.”

The parent committee assisted International Club in the organization.

“Last year we decided on China because that is what the Parent Committee suggested, and this year we decided on Germany because of Anna [Szinyei],” said senior Jen-

nifer Melcher, International Club co-head.

Szinyei, a foreign exchange student from Münster, Germany, had high expectations for International Day. “People are used to the portrayal of Germany as a beer-obsessed country,” Szinyei said. “I hope that International Day allows people to know that there are many different sides to Germany.”

International Club strove to create an experience that was simultaneously educational and fun.

“We think that it’s important for students to enjoy and learn from International Day,” Melcher said. “We try as hard as we can to be authentic with the right food and not some cheap imitation, again with input from the parents.”

International Club participation in the event has been relatively new.

“We’ve only been involved within the last

two or three years, and there has been a lot of family involvement with regards to planning International Day,” Dara said. “With Argentina, we had Ms. Adrogué [mother of freshman Schuyler Gustafson], and with Iran, we had the Ladjevardians.”

Melcher said she believes that International Day is an important event.

“I think it’s big enough so that people actually look forward to it the same way I looked forward to it,” Melcher said. “It is a really fun lunch, and last year was unbelievable with the crowd of people watching the Dragon Dances.”

Szinyei looked forward to the possibilities of International Day. “I think they did a good job with the diversity of the displays,” senior Rebecca Nikonowicz said. “Next year they could incorporate a main event during the lunch.”

Mandarin classes travel to Chinatown, experience traditional culture while sampling authentic cuisine

SHERIFA KEHS

Fine China Mandarin Chinese students of all levels practiced their language skills while experiencing authentic Chinese culture, Feb. 3. Led by language teacher Jing-Nan Gea, center, the field trip consisted of a visit to a supermarket, seafood restaurant and tapioca shop.

by Marissa Murillo

Chinese students of all levels ate squid, shopped at a Chinese supermarket, saw dried seahorses and drank bubble tea — all in under three hours.

“What I enjoyed most about the field trip was not only seeing Chinatown and experiencing some of chinese culture, but also bonding with other chinese students.” sophomore Chinese II student Jason Souvaliotis said.

The field trip began at Arco Seafood Restaurant, where students shared 11 authentic Chinese dishes per table.

“I enjoyed almost all of the dishes that were brought out, but I remember the squid being particularly good, as well as the sweet and sour chicken,” freshman Chinese I Student Stella Trout said.

Students appreciated the restaurant’s authenticity.

“I don’t think Chinese takeout from the store two minutes away from my house really counts as authentic Asian food, so

lunch in Chinatown was a new and luckily successful introduction for me into the Chinese food scene.” Trout said.

The family-style meal provided a platform for getting to know other students learning Chinese.

“I think I will always remember interacting and meeting people in different grades and levels of Chinese,” sophomore AP Chinese student Annie Ren said. “There’s nothing like bonding over a good plate of walnut shrimp.”

After lunch, the group walked to a Chinese supermarket, which they explored in small groups.

“The supermarket was very memorable because of the unique products they sold,” said Alex Sheinbaum, a senior taking Chinese II. “We also went an herb and Chinese medicine shop, which was very different from any store I’ve been to.”

Students were able to put what they had learned in class to use.

“The cashier at the grocery store was pleasantly surprised when one of my friends

started a conversation with her,” Trout said.

At the herb shop, students were exposed to traditional Chinese medicine, many for the first time. Among the items sold at the store were ginseng and dried seahorses.

“I’ll never forget the staggeringly high prices of all the various roots and mushrooms,” freshman Chinese I student Peter Chen said.

Toward the end of the trip, many students headed to a tapioca shop.

“I enjoyed my first time trying bubble tea,” sophomore Chinese AP student Aileen Zhang said. “It’s basically milk tea with gummy balls of tapioca starch — very tasty.”

Language teacher Jing-Nan Gea wanted to introduce students to Chinese culture and practice the language outside of the classroom.

“I hope students were able to gain positive learning experiences about Chinese culture, become aware of and appreciate cultural traditions different from their own, and be inspired to become lifelong learners of Chinese,” Gea said.

Latin students reeled in numerous awards from the annual Rice Owl Certamen Tournament, Jan. 17.

Held at Rice University and organized by college students, the tournament was a day devoted to all things classical.

Students took one or two academic tests in categories such as Roman Life, Latin Grammar and Reading Comprehension, and Roman History and Mythology.

Every SJS student placed in the top four in the respective category.

Among the first place winners were senior Vinay Gajula and freshmen Stella Trout, Linda Yu and Olivia Zhang.

“My last Owl Certamen was really bittersweet,” said Gajula, Advanced Certamen team captain. “Winning it brought back memories of competing in each of the last four years.”

After the success at Owl Certamen, Latin students will compete in the State Junior Classical League convention in Amarillo this March.

Upper School to adopt class dean system

With current Dean of Students Stephen Popp soon departing for The John Cooper School, Elisa Inman, the current Assistant Dean of Students, will serve as Interim Dean next year.

In light of this change, SJS has recently announced plans to implement a new class dean system next year. There will be a separate dean for each grade level to compensate for an increase in students.

“As the Upper School is expanding, it’ll be tough, with just two deans, to try and meet all the needs of the student body,” Head of Upper School Hollis Amley said. “Rather than just responding when we’re big, we would like to create a structure that can grow and expand while the student body grows as well.”

According to Amley, the new arrangement will facilitate communication between the dean and advisors so that they can connect more personally with students.

“Department chairs are thinking vertically while these deans will think more of the student life and work-extracurricular balance,” Amley said.

SAC institutes celebration day for teachers

Teacher Appreciation Day, which had been in works since summer, was enacted by the Student Affairs Council for the first time.

“The prefects brainstormed about it over our summer meeting, and Dean Popp was supportive of it from the get-go,” head prefect Akshay Jaggi said.

“The day gives students an important reminder to recognize their teachers’ hard work, enthusiasm and love,” Jaggi said.

In the week leading up to Teacher Appreciation Day, students were given the opportunity to write thank you notes to their teachers and to express their appreciation for them.

Teachers were presented with the handwritten cards and breakfast.

Briefs by Dani Yan and Olivia Zhang

NEWS

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SJSREVIEW.COM I FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Administrators take promotions, relocate within SPC

AUSTIN ZHANG

Movin’ on up Upper School Dean of Students, Stephen Popp, left, and Head of Middle School, Eric Lombardi, prepare for their new positions as Head of Upper School at The John Cooper School and Head of School at Fort Worth Country Day, respectively. Fort Worth Country Day is the fourth SPC school with which Lombardi has been involved.

T

by Gabe Malek & Chris Zimmerman

hough he helped make the Student Center possible, Dean of Students Stephen Popp will not be at school next year to see its opening.

While Popp joked that leaving before the construction is completed is his final act of solidarity with the senior class, he had many other reasons for accepting the position of Head of Upper School at The John Cooper School.

But, if Popp’s departure and the opening of the Student Center are not enough to characterize the coming 2015-16 school year as one of change, then Head of Middle School Eric Lombardi’s decision to become Head of School at Fort Worth Country Day tops it off.

Although both Lombardi and Popp went through rigorous hiring processes to be chosen for their new positions, their experiences were different.

“To many people, applying for a job at another school seems disloyal, and I love this place, so I didn’t want anyone to think I wanted to leave. If things didn’t work out, nobody else would even know that I applied,” Lombardi said.“This search firm who contacted me was different because it promised stealth.”

Popp, who was less concerned about discretion, informed his colleagues early on about his considering the John Cooper offer.

“The great thing about SJS is that people here are educators, but they also like to grow professionally,” Popp said. “Once I got the green light from the team here, I threw my hat in the ring. I wanted to make sure, first, that my peers and bosses here knew that it was not done in a desire to get out of SJS but rather just to pursue an exciting opportunity.”

Assisstant Dean of Students, Elissa Inman, experienced a range of emotions after discovering that Popp would be leaving.

“It is a great opportunity for him and a well-deserved next step in his career, so I was obviously very happy.

At the same time, I’m sad to see him go,” Inman said. “Our loss is John Cooper’s gain, no doubt.”

Popp found that the John Cooper position was distinct from most others.

“The mission statement was very compelling and was in some ways very similar to SJS,” Popp said. “The school has some of the same hallmarks as SJS, and it is a very caring and intellectually driven community.”

Lombardi liked the tenets of Fort Worth Country Day. “Fort Worth Country Day is very big on the three A’s: academics, athletics, and arts,” Lombardi said. “It’s a job where I come in to a good place and try to keep it good.”

Popp and Lombardi both gained educational experience from the Klingenstein Center at the Teachers College of Columbia University. The center offers a one-year course to obtain a Master’s Degree in Education.

“I actually went to the program not intending to be a head of school; the idea was to go up there and take my learning further,” Lombardi said.

“I was afraid that I got into the mindset that what we were doing here was the only right way to do things. I think you learn the most in education from watching other educators work.

I came back from there thinking that I was going to apply a lot of what I learned to St. John’s.”

Family and location were both key factors for Popp and Lombardi.

“The fact that the school was Fort Worth was big,” Lombardi said. “I grew up in Dallas, and my parents, who are in their eighties, are moving out of my childhood home. I watched friends of mine who had parents getting older, and they wanted to be around but couldn’t. I’ve also seen friends who’ve been around and how big of a difference that makes as their parents are moving into a retirement

home.”

Popp wanted to make sure he stayed close to home.

“It was an important family decision for me,” Popp said. “I have two small kids, and my wife and I didn’t want to leave the Houston area, so I wanted to make sure I was doing my family right.”

Lombardi’s wife Debra had recently moved into a new job.

“My wife and I got a call about our new jobs on the same day,” Lombardi said. “She’s now the interim executive director of HITS Theatre, and will continue that position until December, but until then, she will commute.

We are both very excited about starting something new together.”

Both Popp and Lombardi are attempting to maintain the same level of devotion to their current positions before moving on.

“My job doesn’t technically start until July 1, so I want to finish up well here,” Popp said. “My wife and I are going to be moving up to the Woodlands, so I imagine that later in the spring there will be greater demands, but for now I can focus on SJS.” Lombardi also hopes to maintain his commitment to SJS while transitioning into his new job.

“I have seen several other administrators go through similar situations and manage to keep their attention focused on SJS, and I fully hold myself to that bar,” Lombardi said. “I am working hard to not let my upcoming job to be a distraction or take me away from here.”

Lombardi and Popp acknowledge that their new positions will include less interaction with students.

“I won’t be able to get to know 1,100 kids, but I am going to try to know 220 faculty and staff members the way I know the kids now,” Lombardi said. “I imagine having lunch with team captains and production casts, for example, so I can learn more about them.”

Popp also laments the lack of student interaction as an administrator.

“I got into education because I am a teacher at heart, so there will be less interaction with students as a Head of Upper School,” Popp said. “I have some great division heads to depend upon, and I am hoping to connect with all of the constituencies there.”

Inman, who will take over as Interim Dean of Students next school year, cites Popp as a mentor.

“I am personally thankful for having had the opportunity to work with and learn from Dean Popp over the past four years,” Inman said. “I’m excited to be a part of the growth that is taking place The great thing at St. John’s.” about SJS is that Head of Upper School Hollis Amley finds Popp’s people here are educators, but they departure bittersweet.

“We are so sad for SJS also like to grow but so happy for Dean professionally.”

Popp and his family,” Amley said. “He’s certainly a Stephen Popp bit of an icon in the Upper School, and I think he has provided a timbre to the position of dean, where you can be someone who is consistent and fair but also winsome and affable.”

Popp and Lombardi have been helpful in Amley’s transition this year.

“It has been hard because two major attractors to this position were getting to work with Mr. Lombardi and Dean Popp, so I personally lament their leaving, but am also excited for the two of them,” she said.

While SJS will lose two staples of the community, their departures leave room for new voices during a transformatory period at the school.

“There are several aspects of campus life that are changing, so bringing in new ideas is exciting,” Amley said. “It is disappointing to see two significant leaders leave, but I think it also gives us an opportunity to bring in new opinions and people, who have gone through these types of changes before.”

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FEATURES

THE REVIEW I FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Siblings remain connected despite wide age gaps

COURTESY PHOTOS

Sibling Love Sophomore Lauren Biegel and brother Will (33), left, get ready for a University of Texas football game. Senior Meghna Dara, left, and older sisters Katie and Karishma attend Katie’s graduation from UT Business School in 2010. At the time, Meghna was in seventh grade and Karishma was in her sophomore year of college at University of Rochester.

by Amy Liu

For nearly the first decade of her life, sophomore Lauren Biegel almost never saw her older brother Will at home. By the time he had completed his service in the navy at age 26, Lauren was seven years old.

“He’s more like a cousin because he didn’t grow up with me. We love each other but don’t know everything that goes on in our lives,” Biegel said.

Other students with large age gaps in their families sometimes find it challenging to communicate and relate to their siblings.

“We don’t talk that much about our personal lives,” junior Sloan Rucker said. “But I don’t mind not having siblings to share feelings with. I prefer that over being forced to share my feelings,” said junior Sloan Rucker, who has two sisters in their twenties and two half-siblings in their thirties.

Senior Shehzad Charania is the youngest of five siblings. His sisters came home from college while he was attending high school and participated more in his life. His sister Iman (‘13), a sophomore at

Penn, is only one year older.

“The only real difference is that Iman has more information about my life,” Shehzad said. “If anything, there’s a gender dynamic. I’m the only son, and a lot of responsibilities fall on me.”

An age disparity affects siblings’ relationships not only with each other but also with their parents.

Biegel said she has noticed that parents can address siblings in different ways based on their ages.

“Because my brother’s older, he and my dad go hunting together and are like friends. With me, my dad is still very ‘dadly,’” Biegel said.

Parents often see elder siblings as role models for the younger. Siblings like senior Quincy Cotton, whose brother Carson is in seventh grade, feel that parents should treat their children like individuals.

“My parents feel our situations aren’t comparable,” Cotton says.

“I don’t think they want to model him after me because we’re not the same people. He’s never going to be Quincy Cotton. Let him be the best Carson he can be.”

Charania says that allowing a sibling individuality requires a

strong family relationship.

“My parents have kept a really open mind,” Charania said. “Parents have to trust their children.

After a certain age, they have to let them do what they think is right.

Our relationship revolves around integrity and trust.”

Older children often become standards for comparison for their parents because they experience milestones before their younger counterparts.

“It happens in a one-directional kind of way. I’m the first one to go through everything,” said Jeremy Slawin (‘07), currently in medical school at University of California at Berkeley. His sister, Bailey (sophomore) is 9 years younger.

“They may compare themselves to me just because they’re the second or third ones.”

Even when siblings have completely different goals, there is pressure to live up to achievements. .

“It’s not pressure from family, it’s pressure based on extended family. Other people expect a lot from me because they see a record of successes. I don’t feel too much pressure,” Charania said.

A good old-fashioned sibling rivalry is not uncommon even with significant age gaps.

“All my siblings are very involved and active people with very specific interests,” Rucker said. “There’s a bit of pressure to be as involved as they are when I’m their age.”

Conversely, the age gap can help mitigate sibling rivalries.

“I’m the only one who went to a private school,” senior Meghna Dara said. “The large age gap, different aspirations, the conditions in which we grew up didn’t make rivalry a huge thing.”

Younger siblings often receive guidance from their older siblings.

“No matter how old I am, I will be treated as the baby. I’m always seen as everyone’s little pet,” Rucker said. “For them, thinking back to my age seems so long ago, giving the illusion that I’m a lot younger than I actually am.”

Older siblings feel a responsibility to act as teachers and nurturers.

“I’m always inviting him to tell me whatever’s bothering him,” Cotton said. “I try to think of what I can do to make sure he has a better experience growing up.”

AGE GAPS BETWEEN CELEBRITIES AND YOUNGER SIBLINGS Britney Spears, sister Jamie: 13 yrs

Justin Bieber, sister Jazmyn: 15 yrs James Franco, brother Dave: 7 yrs

Rihanna, brother Rajd: 9 yrs

FEATURES

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SJSREVIEW.COM I FEBRUARY 12, 2015

SINK OR SWIM

Minnows or sharks: Freshmen swimmers lead team

by Emily Chen

The swim team saw a boost in both numbers and scores this year with 41 swimmers and multiple school records broken.

“We have really dedicated team members that are really trying to be the best swimmers for the school,” freshman Travis Allday said.

In the past few years, female swimmers have led the team in points. This year, the boys have been routinely scoring higher.

“The freshmen really encourage the others and are pushing the upperclassmen to do better,” Head Coach Ron Raper said.

Although new to the team, the freshmen have plenty of experience.

Many have been or are currently on club teams including those at Rice and the River Oaks Country Club.

“We have multiple kids who are swimming outside of school as well, and like me, have started swimming from a younger age.” freshman Samuel Ho said. “When you have a lot of swimmers who started competitive swimming early, even before middle school, it just gives your team more experience.”

The coaches have a flexible practice policy to allow club swimmers to participate on their teams.

“I usually go to club over school practice because Coach Raper has graciously let me go to club practice, but I usually try to go to school practice about once a week,” Ho said.

The boys 400 free relay team, consisting of Ho, freshmen Michael He and Paul Schwartz, and sophomore Cooper Lueck have broken the school record at nearly every meet.

“We’ve got a lot of potential,” Lueck said, “the freshmen are already doing so well, and we’ve got a lot of talent in the middle school.”

Assisting Coach Raper is Evalina

“

ELENA SKARIBAS

Eat my bubbles Freshman Paul Schwartz celebrates a second place victory for the boys at the Greater Houston Private School Championship meet. Schwartz scored 300.5 points this season with seven first-place and six second-place finishes. He set school records in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles.

Skaribas, the mother of senior team captain Elena Skaribas.

New swimmers have benefited from the team’s strong leadership. Freshman Andrew Wan has dropped seven

Michael He (’18) 260.00 Points

Just Keep Swimming Freshman Paul Schwartz cheers on fellow freshman teammate Michael He as they compete in the 4 by 100 yard relay.

Samuel Ho (’18)

Cooper Lueck (’17) 261.50 Points

seconds from his 50-yard freestyle time.

“The coaches have been great,” Wan said. “Sometimes it’s hard, but in the end

258.50 Points

Paul Schwartz (’18)

Boys’ swimming leaders in cumulative points 50 points needed to qualify for varsity

300.50 Points

it’s fun, and I’ve improved a lot.”

The swimmers traveled to Corpus Christi on Jan. 9 to participate in their first major meet.

“It was the biggest meet we’ve swum so far. Everyone swam their best event,” said Schwartz, who broke the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle school records in Corpus Christi.

“It was an overnight meet, so a lot of people were pretty excited and trying to do well since it was out of this local Houston area,” Ho said.

“But also, it had preliminaries and finals, which gave some swimmers two chances at their races.”

Students on Friday, Jan. 9 competed in the preliminary races that afternoon and the The freshmen finals the next day. really encourage the “Since you had to qualify others and are for finals, a lot of people like me only made it on the pushing the uprelay for finals. You really perclassmen to do had to work as a team to get better.” the points. It really made me think—I’m not the best Ron Raper swimmer on the team, but I can still make points for the team,” freshman Carson Harraman said. “That’s why I think swimming is one of the biggest team sports: even though it’s an individual person swimming, it takes the team to win.”

The boys won first place and set several school records in the 200yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle and 4x100-yard relay events.

“It’s a big accomplishment for a private school,” Allday said.

The freshmen look forward to future seasons.

“We decided to buckle down and be dedicated,” Schwartz said. “I think that we’re going to continually get a lot of really good freshmen swimmers and hopefully win SPC soon.”

MATTHEW NEAL

COURTESY PHOTO

SPORTS

THE REVIEW I FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Sports Shorts

Basketball persists in Winslow’s shadow

In order for wrestling to achieve a three-peat in the Southwest Preparatory Conference tournament, the team will need to catch a break.

The Mavs (13-12 record) hope their unity and talented underclassmen will make up for injuries and inexperience. Most notably, senior captain Raymond Yuan is out for the season due to a broken hand.

“The team has really come together over the last month, but we still have a lot of work to do,” senior captain Jerald Barbe said. “People really need to step up their game and exceed expectations.”

The Mavericks won matches against Episcopal, Kinkaid, Casady and Episcopal School of Dallas. The team placed seventh out of 12 in the Texas State Duals Tournament, Jan. 24.

“The State Duals do not reflect our full capability as a team since many of our wrestlers were not there to wrestle or were injured, but the team is really coming together,” said Barbe, the only captain able to wrestle at the tournament.

Coach Alan Paul’s team gained experience by participating in highly competitive and nationally regarded tournaments like the Allen Outlaw tournament over winter break.

Relying on younger wrestlers to fill in has increased the team’s potential to succeed at SPC. The team lost to Episcopal and finished behind SPC rival St. Mark’s in the state tournament.

“We’ve been pushing each other a lot more,” sophomore Josh Thomas said. “For SPC, we need to keep working and push ourselves to the limit if we want to secure a threepeat. We just have to hold everyone accountable.”

The SPC wrestling tournament will take place all day Saturday, Feb. 14, at Episcopal.

Girls’ soccer conquers South Zone opponents

Girls’ soccer finished undefeated in counter games, with no goals scored against them.

The regular season culminated in a 2-0 win against Kinkaid, Feb. 6.

“We’re really excited about SPC because we’re going in as first seed in South Zone, which hasn’t happened in a while,” senior captain Taylor Welch said. “We’ve had a ton of injuries this year and our team is continuing to do really well.”

The team has experienced setbacks including head coach Kim Abbott going on maternity leave, the addition of new coaches and injuries to several starters. Yet the team found new talent with six freshmen on varsity.

“There are times when I am intimidated,” freshman Grace Melcher said. “But for the most part, the older girls are very welcoming.”

The Mavs play their first SPC tournament game at noon on Friday at Kinkaid versus the winner of Houston Christian and Holland Hall.

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By Dani Yan and Emily Chen

JARED MARGOLIS

Wrestling faces challenges in quest for SPC 3-peat

Get your head in the game Boys’ basketball faces changes after the loss of seven players from the class of 2014. This year’s roster features two junior captains and only two seniors.

by Michael VerMeulen

When current boys’ varsity basketball players enter the gym, they cannot escape the team’s previous glories: a giant photo of Justise Winslow dunking, a banner of Winslow’s 2014 Texas Gatorade Player of the Year Award, pictures of smiling players from the teams that have won three SPC championships in the last four years.

“We have established a tradition over the past few years of winning championships,” junior captain Paul Labanowski said.

The team underwent major roster changes with the graduation of the Class of 2014.

Winslow is a freshman at Duke, which is currently ranked fourth in the nation.

“A lot of people think we just lost Justise Winslow, who obviously was a great player,” head coach Harold Baber said.

“However, we also lost seven other great seniors who had mostly been on varsity since their sophomore years and whose collective basketball IQ was incredibly high.”

The team’s changes were especially evident after a heart-breaking, season-ending 55-54 loss to rival Kinkaid that decided which team would continue on to the SPC playoffs. The team’s final record stands at 3-24.

“We played extremely well, but it was disappointing because we were up until the last minute,” senior Peter Strawn said.

“Over the whole season, we lost too many games in the last few minutes of play.”

Inexperienced players needed to step up in the wake of such overhaul.

Some players like junior Trey Lewis and senior Ben Bliss had played on the varsity team

in past years but had much less playing time.

“They hadn’t played a lot since they were on lower-level teams,” Baber said. “This year, those guys are some of our main contributors.”

Players have had to take on leadership roles within the program.

“As a captain, it was strange having plays run to me and needing to cope with being a leader for the team,” Labanowski said. “At the beginning of the season, we didn’t drive each other as much as we should, so the upperclassmen had to step up.”

Many underclassmen have joined the team, forcing them to adapt to the varsity game.

“With the amount of game experience that they have received, every player should now be aware of what it takes to be successful at this level,” Baber said. “Our freshmen aren’t really freshmen anymore and our sophomores aren’t really sophomores anymore.”

Upperclassmen have been impressed with the performance of the younger players.

“Seeing all of them grow has been incredible,” Labanowski said. “It’s cool to see how these underclassmen are coming in through the position that I was in when I started and learning to be contributors.”

The upperclassmen want the underclassmen to enjoy the same sense of achievement that they had received.

“I’ve come to respect and befriend all of them,” Labanowski said. “I hope that they will get a chance to feel as successful as we (the returning players) did after winning a championship.”

Even with the roster revamp, wins have been difficult to come by this season.

“We played a really hard out-of-conference schedule this season,” Strawn said. “We know we can win, but we’ve really had to stay together as a team in order to keep our confidence this year.”

Improvement has been a theme for the team during the course of the year.

“Getting better does not always result in getting wins,” Baber said. “Not winning too

many games doesn’t bother me.

The frustration comes from doing stuff in practice that we worked on extensively that we struggle with during gameplay, and we’re much better at our execution than we were at the start of the season.”

The coaching staff has focused on specifically helping the team progress as a whole rather than overcomplicating the players’ thought processes.

“We have tried to simplify things a little bit to give the guys a game plan,” Baber said. “For example, we used to watch an hour of the others team’s film to prepare for a game, but now we only watch 30 minutes or less in order to focus on ourselves.

Keying in on our own plays helps our more inexperienced players.”

Student support has remained high despite the obstacles this season.

“Our student section is great,” Strawn said. “Fan support helps the team greatly, and we hope that we can get even bigger crowds to help us out.”

Yet players want fans to be conscious of their expectations for the team.

“My hope is that everybody realizes that the record means nothing,” Labanowski said.

“People need to come out and be loud no matter what our numbers of wins and losses are.”

The team hopes to gain experience and looks forwards to achieving success in future seasons.

“We have shown glimpses of brilliance that we need to be more consistent with,” Baber said. “The majority of our guys are returning from this year’s varsity team. If we can execute, now having experience, then we become the program that we want to be.”

MATTHEW NEAL

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BEYOND

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SJSREVIEW.COM FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Bright Sky publisher follows dreams back home

by Christian Maines

Upon her graduation from The University of Virginia, Lucy Chambers (‘81) did not think that Houston was the place to launch her career in publishing. After five years in New York and a brief time in Los Angeles, Houston ended up being the very place to make her mark.

Chambers is the managing partner at Bright Sky Press, a publishing company based in the Rice Village that focuses on Texas and regional culture.

“I had these big dreams of being Max Perkins and doing something bigger than

I thought Houston was,” Chambers said, alluding to the illustrious editor behind F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Thomas Wolfe.

“When I graduated from UVA, I didn’t really know that much about publishing,” Chambers said.

Chambers interviewed at several publishing companies until she landed a job with the Junior Literary Guild where she read picture books.

“That was an awesome job, and my friends would call me up and laugh and ask what I was doing, and I would say, ‘oh, I’m reading about a vampire bunny.’”

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The Sky’s the Limit Lucy Chambers (‘81), right, runs Bright Sky Press, headquarted in the Rice Village. Bright Sky Press publishes books by Texans and regional authors.

Chambers heard about a job with be reminiscent of Chambers’ years as an Doubleday and Company and seized the editor. opportunity. Chambers became the edito“I realized when I was teaching that I rial assistant for a young editor who was was doing the same thing as when I was quickly promoted to editor in chief, which editing,” Chambers said. “I was helping turned out to be a boon for Chambers. people find their voices, and helping them “I got a lot of work very quickly. I to bring their voice to the highest level thought it was going to take me 12 years without influencing it with my own.” to become an editor, but it only took me After teaching at SJS, Chambers worked three.” at the preschool Pooh Corner for over six Chambers worked with years. While she was there, editors including David she received an offer she ‘ Gernert and Nan Talese, could not refuse. who acquired and edited “I knew Rue Judd, who I was helping authors including Margaret people find their was the founder of Bright Atwood and John GrishSky Press, and she had asked voices, and helping am. me before if I wanted to them to bring their Her career had taken work with her,” Chambers voice to the highest off, and Chambers had said. “Ellen Cregan and I resolved that she would worked so that I would do level without never come back to Texas influencing it with my the editing, she would do again, but she discovthe design, and Bright Sky own.” ered that something was would publish.” missing.

Chambers and Cregan “I realized that I wanted bought out the company and a family, and I wanted Lucy Chambers (’81) moved the office from Albaa house with a kitchen ny, Texas, to Houston. table, and I really wanted to have grass and “I didn’t want to keep talking about trees,” Chambers said. when I was in New York,” Chambers said.

New York began to lose its luster.

“I don’t like the idea of resting on my “I kind of wanted to leave,” Chambers laurels, and I wanted to be able to show said. “During the early 1990’s, New York people what I had done at Bright Sky.” was a very bloody place. They had opened Working as a teacher influenced Chamup the mental institutions, and they had bers’ understanding of the editing process. let a lot of people on the street.”

“I think that working as a teacher Chambers then went on to travel to the showed me how vulnerable people are west coast before coming back to Texas. when they show you their writing. If you “I first went to Los Angeles, thinking show them a safe environment in which that maybe there would be more of a they can talk about what they really want normal life there, but I realized that Los to do, you can help them do their best Angeles was the same as Houston, but work,” Chambers said. with movie stars.

Reading and critiquing students’ writing When Chambers decided to return to helped Chambers realize the stresses that Houston, she became an English teacher writers experience when having others read at SJS, where she met her future husband their work.

Sam (‘77), who now coaches lacrosse. SJS “When people feel judged or afraid, was a logical choice for Chambers, whose they’re going to hold back,” Chambers father, Fred Herring (‘57), and siblings all said. “If you can get them to let it all out attended school. Her daughters, Sallie and on paper, that’s when you find out what Alice, are now a sophomore and a junior, the core of what they want to say is.” respectively.

“I was not the world’s best student,” Chambers said. “I was one of those people Scan to check out the Bright Sky who was always being told that I was not Press website living up to my full potential.”

This period of teaching turned out to

“

Catching up with

Girls’ basketball captains

Briana Williams (’13)

Lauren Lockett (‘13)

Sarah Gow (’14)

I’m a sophomore at the University of Virginia where I’m majoring in nanomedicine, which is in the School of Engineering.

I’m currently in the National Society of Black Engineers, on the ballroom dance team and on the club rugby team.

Rugby is great, and basketball really helps with footwork and some of the strategizing in the game. I also became pretty close with some of my teammates, and we started an intramural basketball team. We almost won the championship, but we were beaten by a really good team that actually had practices.

I’m a sophomore at Stanford, majoring in history with a concentration in American law. I’ve also gotten involved with the Stanford Gospel choir, writing for the Stanford Daily (with former Review editor Andrew Vogeley, actually) and I’m planning to study abroad in Madrid next spring. Although I’m not currently playing basketball, I still practice with the intramural team occasionally and get into pick-up games around campus.

My experiences with Maverick basketball have definitely influenced me in college. They were really important in teaching me how to be a positive, contributing member of a team or group and how to handle successes, failures or disappointments that come. I learned so much through basketball and made a ton of memories that helped shape the person I am today.

I am just beginning my second semester at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. My classes have been extremely interesting, and I am majoring in psychology and sports administration. I definitely miss basketball and team sports at St. John’s.

I joined a group at Pepperdine called “Riptide” that’s in charge of creating school spirit and cheering at sports games, so I get my sports fill through that.

Riptide and my sorority have been two fun organizations for me this year, but I’m looking forward to intramural basketball this semester.

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THE REVIEW I FEBRUARY 12, 2015

EMMA ERWIN’S STEPS TOWARD RESILIENCE

IN FO

INTERSTATE Emma Erwin traversed the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail alone. Her trek from the Mexican border to Canada took 102 days.

Written by Megan Routbort Design by Chris Zimmerman

In November 2012, Emma Erwin (‘11) was trekking and successful life. She was a tri-varsity athlete, captain through the Patagonian wilderness, cutting steps in vegetaof the field hockey, soccer, and softball teams. She took tion as she forged a trail in ragged, snow-covered peaks dozmultivariable calculus with Dr. Raulston. Middlebury reens of feet above a turbulent river. As part of a course with cruited her to play for the Panthers, its Division III champithe National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), Emma on field hockey team. And long before she hiked the Pacific was practicing her route-finding with three other students.

Crest Trail, she romanced the Great Outdoors.

She had built a platform for herself on the steep slope of a Her infatuation began when she travelled to Big Bend as mountain. When a teammate called her name, she turned an eighth grader. Two years later, she took it to the next level around and stepped on the trail she’d blazed. by exploring Colorado for a month with Outward Bound, And fell forty feet down. an outdoor education organization that guides people of all Into a raging river. ages through courses that inspire self-discovery.

Her companions screamed. A boy vomited from anxiety Although Emma originally planned to spend a month as he watched Emma slide between two boulders and disapmountaineering, her plans were scuttled when the course’s pear under the rushing water. A minute later she resurfaced, lead instructor was injured on the first day. screaming, “I’m okay!”

“It ended up being a crazy course, and we had to indeThey continued their trek, visibly shaken. And at night, pendently find our ways out of a couple sketchy circumnestled safely in their tent, they whisstances,” Emma said. “But it definitely made pered to her, “We’re glad you’re alive.” me realize that mountaineering was someIT TURNS OUT And she was too. At 19 years old, with thing I wanted to do more.”

THAT STAYING the Patagonian snow and sun on her Middlebury, which is positioned conveface, she was thankful for the chance to niently between the Green Mountains and HAPPY AND kayak rapids, breathe clear, heady air and Adirondack Park in rural Vermont, was HEALTHY TAKES A the simply take a break to enjoy life. the ideal location for Emma to continue her LOT OF ENERGY.” adventuring. It was here that she became But six months earlier, as she was coming home to Houston with a weighty involved in its thriving Outdoor Club and emotional load, this might not have been the case. climbed Mount Washington, dually famous for being the *** highest peak in the Northeast and for its dangerous, erratic Emma has conquered North America’s highest peak, hiked weather. It looked like her adventures were just beginning. over 2,500 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail and survived a *** sexual assault.

Everything changed in an instant.

But the hardest thing that Emma has ever done was leave While at Middlebury, Emma found a new best friend. a letter on her parents’ nightstand to ask for help with her “We got really close because we both had some things we depression. hadn’t really shared with other people before, and I was kind That was in June 2012. The clear-eyed blonde with the of her go-to,” she said. perpetually sunny disposition was flying home after finishing Her friend was hospitalized after a suicide attempt. Emma her freshman year at Middlebury College. But rather than was shocked and devastated. But the incident provided an reveling in the glory of a successful first year, Emma felt impetus for an important change in her own life. strange. So she penned a note. Supposed to leave the next “I was worried for my friend, but I was terrified because I day for a summer job, she revealed her most private secret: could also see myself in that situation.” that she was not the carefree, confident 19-year-old that she She flew into Houston the day before she was supposed to pretended to be. start working as a wilderness expert at camp. That night, she The morning after leaving her note, she woke to the sound left her parents the fateful letter. Emma spent the next three of her parents crying. And the next day, with their full supmonths in and out of psychologists’ offices. port, she enrolled in therapy. And the path to healing began.

“It turns out that staying happy and healthy takes a lot of *** energy,” she said.

A St. John’s “lifer,” Emma had an ostensibly wonderful ***

“

“I’m not coming back,” Emma told the Middlebury Dean in late July 2012, not yet fully prepared to face the mechanical milieu of school. He accepted her decision to take time off.

So Emma bought a plane ticket to Chile.

And then she told her parents. They reluctantly approved.

“It was a big detour from the normal life path,” Erwin said.

“But it turned out to be a good one.”

She spent a semester in Patagonia with NOLS. Her course was broken up into three components: mountaineering, kayaking and independent expedition.

It was on the independent expedition that Emma fell off the cliff. Two weeks later, her ragtag band reconvened with instructors.

“When we told them about my plunge, they immediately checked my spine,” she said. Emma was still in one piece, and stronger than ever, having learned several important lessons during her hiatus from college.

“When I told my friends I was leaving school, they accused me of running away from my problems,” Emma said. “There was a perception I wasn’t dealing with my feelings correctly, that I needed to confront the real world head on, that I was running away.”

But that assumption couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“Honestly, it’s harder to deal with things when you’re alone in the woods. It isn’t an escape,” she said. *** Emma returned to Houston right before the end of 2012.

After supporting her through the Patagonian expedition, her parents were ready for Emma to return to Middlebury.

“They had registered me for classes and everything,” she said.

But she still wasn’t ready.

“There were a lot of things I’d gotten in my head while I was in “NOTHING WE South America. It was a bucket ACCORDING TO list,” she said. “And I decided I PLAN, BUT NOT wanted to do them now.”

After spending two months in EVER DOES.” Houston working as a personal assistant, she travelled to Wyoming to enroll in a monthlong wilderness medicine class.

But she still had time on her hands. So she checked the bucket list.

“I’m going to go to Alaska,” she told her parents after

OCUS

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SJSREVIEW.COM I FEBRUARY 12, 2015

signing up to participate in World Wide Opportunities On didn’t want to spend any time in villages.

Organic Farms, an organization that facilitates placement of “I was alone, and I was a young girl,” she said. “Most of volunteers on organic farms. the bad things that could happen to me would be when I It was in Alaska that she would climb Mount McKinley was alone in towns, not in the wild.” with a group of NOLS alumni. It was in Alaska where she She hiked quickly, only stopping for an hour in Kennedy was supposed to work on her first farm. But there was no Meadows, a pack station where most hikers revel for days. farm.

She hiked upwards of 30 miles a day while “It was a couple of characters in Oregon.

“THE PCT CHANGES living in a shack. I babysat for their Emma wasn’t going to let the past dictate kids,” Emma said of the host she was YOU. YOU FEEL LIKE her future. matched with as a part of the program.

After being assaulted at school, Emma YOU CAN DO When the months turned hotter and struggled with the control issues typical of the days longer, she transferred to an ANYTHING.” a victim, occasionally feeling as if she were Alaskan flower farm. powerless. She cited this as a primary reason And then, over a year since she confessed her melancholy, for deciding to undertake the hike solo.

Emma was ready to go back to school.

“After being so out of control, I wanted to hike by myself, *** and be completely in control of the journey.” And even She flew to Vermont in the fall of 2013. With a smile on alone, she thrived. her face and plans to study abroad in Russia on the table, Emma completed her hike five days before Middlebury’s Emma was ready to return to normalcy. Things were looking fall semester began. In her first few days back in civilization, up. she had trouble readjusting.

And then she was sexually assaulted by a close male friend.

“I felt like I was still dirty and smelly,” she said. “And there After the attack, she no longer felt comfortable with the were way too many people around, even in Middle-of-Noprospect of being alone in a foreign country. But without where, Vermont.” Word of Emma’s expedition travelled studying abroad, Emma could not meet the requirements for quickly at Middlebury. She was frequently stopped in the a Russian major. So she changed her plans and re-declared as dining hall by curious strangers. She’d become something of a physics major. But she still craved adventure. a celebrity.

She decided to spend the summer of 2014 hiking the But this was only an incidental side effect of the journey.

Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Wary of their daughter tackling a After the hike, she was finally feeling better. long-distance hiking route spanning from Mexico to Cana“The PCT changes you,” she said. “You feel like you can da, her parents tried to say no. But Emma wouldn’t take no do anything.” for an answer. *** *** Emma is not the only woman who finds solace in the She hit the trail the day after finishing her wilderness. The Reese Witherspoon film “Wild” details the finals. Within five days, Emma was vomiting up true story of Cheryl Strayed, who coped with depression and ENT contaminated water in the Mojave Desert. drug addiction by hiking 1,100 miles on the PCT. Her feet bled for days. She still has scars on her “People gave me the nickname Cheryl, maybe because we O hips from the weight of the pack. But despite the both hiked alone, and maybe because we were both blonde,” THING hardships, she kept walking.

Emma said. She hiked over twice the distance that Strayed “Nothing went according to plan, but nothing did, continuing to the northern terminus of the trail instead ever does,” she said. of ceasing at the Bridge of the Gods in Oregon.

She had to keep going. To meet her goal of reaching CanaResearchers from the University of Michigan and Edge da and completing the entire length of the trail before school Hill University in England evaluated 1,991 participants in started in the fall, she needed to be faster and stronger than England’s walking for health program and discovered hiking the typical hiker, who usually spends one day per week resthad a positive impact on mental health. ing in towns. But wary of being taken advantage of, Emma “Walking in nature is a coping mechanism –the benefits

COURTESY PHOTOS

aren’t just physical,” Sarah Weber, a researcher, said.

In February of 2016, Emma will stay true to form, skiing down the Middlebury College Snow Bowl to receive her diploma. She hopes to pursue a career in outdoorsmanship.

She plans to hike the Te Araroa trail in New Zealand, a long-distance tramping route from Cape Reinga to Bluff.

“It’s time for me to work with other people and help them explore the outdoors,” Emma said. “I want to help them test their limits.”

Online Journaling Project Encourages Resilience Writing was an integral part of Emma’s healing process. From the Moleskine notebook in which she penned that first letter to her parents to the journal she carried as she hiked the PCT, Emma crafted narratives on each step of her journey.

Inspired by the cathartic experience of the writing she did while in Patagonia, Emma launched The Resilience Project at Middlebury.

The Resilience Project is a collective that poses one simple question to its members: What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done?

Beginning with Emma’s autobiographical retelling of her battle with depression, entitled “Therapy,” The Resilience Project publishes autobiographical stories of surviving emotional trauma, rape and familial strife. The project has begun to spread beyond campus and features stories written by alumni of the school and students at other liberal arts colleges.

Beyond its electronic platform, the project features meetings on Middlebury’s campus where members join in solidarity to read their stories and bond with each other.

Discussions about the future of the project have centered around expanding the blog, hosting more storytelling events and perhaps bringing outside speakers and musicians to campus to help Middlebury students confront their demons.