Identity in Traverse City citizens of chs

identity traverse city in In our spin-off of Human of New York, the Black & Gold Quarterly went out into the Central High School community in search of uniquity. Our mission was to find inspiring stories and share them to encourage self-expression. Through a variety of randomly selected people, we were about to find one commonality: passion. Stories like theirs are what makes us believe in the power that comes from expression through journalism. People are art. We feel combining their words with a visual story, a unique and inspiring message is created. Members of our community have conveyed their identities and inspired us through their words and sense of passion. To us, this is the truest kind of journalism--finding moving stories and sharing them. by: MALLORY SWOPE staff writer Janna Deering was born and raised in Traverse City, and she is raising her three kids here too. She grew up with intentions of becoming a veterinarian, but she found herself being drawn back to Central High School. While she might not always be recognized by students in the hallways, she’s often no more than a few steps away from classrooms in the F-Building. Deering spends her days in her corner office of F158 planning and improving upon after-school athletic events for TCAPS as the LEAP K-8 Athletic Director. When not at work, she enjoys spending time outside. “In the summertime we’re at the beach or on our boat with our kids, come win tertime lots of downhill skiing,” Deering said. She has recently acquired a skill that can come in handy in all aspects of life: the art of Nunchi. “There’s this thing called Nunchi, it’s a Korean concept taught over in Asia about being able to sense other peo ple’s cues without them having to say anything,” she said. Although Deering has not been practicing the skill for very long, she finds herself picking it up fairly quickly. Janna Deering

Morgan Soloman was born and raised in Traverse City, and she spent a significant amount of time during her childhood dreaming about the future and what it holds for her. In her bright, aspiring eyes, this meant becoming a veterinarian. Solo man spent much of her time after school in her elementary and middle school years practicing the art of Brazillian Jiu Jitsu but has since lost some of her passion for it. Today, Soloman spends her time between school, working at Grand Traverse Pie Company, and spending time with friends. “My friends and family really keep me going. They know how to motivate me, and I love them,” Soloman said. When she is not spending time with friends, she can be found with her clarinet, most likely practicing for marching band season. Solo man believes she adds a sense of diversity and uniqueness to the world around her being “part of two percent of the world population who has red hair and green eyes,” she explained.

Sue Chang was born nearly 2,500 miles from Traverse City in Orange County, California and spent a majority of her child hood in different areas of the country. Chang is a mother to three biological children, all of whom have come through her office during their time at Central. Upon graduating from Auburn University in Alabama, Chang was presented with the opportunity to move out to San Francisco. Despite her friends’ advice that such a big move would be intimidating, Chang saw it differently and was excited about her new ad venture. She made the move to Traverse City 20 years ago and cycled through many jobs in TCAPS before settling on becoming the Indian Education Instructional Assistant at CHS despite her dreams of becoming a veterinarian. “I’ve de veloped some meaningful relationships with students. I have seniors and former seniors that I still keep in touch with, and I’ll get a text when they’re thinking about me,” Chang said. The 2019/2020 school year has already been considered pivotal in Chang’s mind due to the number of Native American seniors that are graduating; “There’s a bunch of them, eight to ten seniors. For the Native American community, having that many students earning their diplomas is a big deal,” she explained.