page 24|june 9, 2016
THELIONSROAR.COM |the lion’s roar
Mikaeel Yunus
For the past four years, all of my teachers have had a profound impact on my intellectual and emotional development. I wish I could thank all of them in detail — especially Mr. Rinaldi, Ms. Shannon, Ms. Honeyman, Mr. Petrizzi, Mr. Jenkins, and Ms. Murphy-Ferguson — but that would require quite a bit more space. So here are a selected few. Dr. Paul Estin: Thank you for playing the guitar for us in history class, for brightening my day whenever we talk in the hallways, for complaining about the latest studies in psychology and for being the most outgoing history teacher ever. And thanks for returning my book, by the way. Mr. Brandon Schmidt: Thank you for sparking my interest in physics and TAships over the past four years, for helping me recover from a C+ to an A in third term freshman year and for making me realize that I have enough potential energy stored in me that I can successfully convert into kinetic energy. Mrs. Alice Lanckton: Thank you for uplifting us by cracking jokes and telling captivating stories about your childhood “right after the end of the Civil War.” Thank you for teaching us how to “remain calm and act cool,” and for being my number one picture book customer. But most importantly, thank you for building a tightly knit community of students who supported each other even outside the Latin classroom. Ms. Ashley Elpern: Thank you for putting a sarcastic and hilarious (dare I say gossip girl?) twist on U.S. History that helped me realize how crazy most people are in the world, and for getting me hooked onto Chobani yogurt. Also (ahem) shout out to you for being an awesome — as always — Roar advisor. Dr. Hema Roychowdhury: Thank you for kindling my passion for physics, and for accommodating the only student without a smartphone by letting me use the class phone. Thank you for being a key emotional support throughout the college application process (you were essentially my second guidance counselor), and for being the only teacher at South whose conversations with others I could interrupt just to say hello. Mr. Brian Baron: Throughout middle school and high school, my English teachers taught me one important thing: that I should cut out fluff wherever possible and write with precision. Mr. Baron, thank you not just for teaching me that I should cut out meaningless words, but for instructing me on how to do that. Ms. Donna Segal: Thank you for always being there when I needed you to sign this, approve that and accommodate schedule changes. But more importantly, Ms. Segal, I cannot thank you enough — I will never be able to thank you enough — for being the hero who played a crucial role in helping me realize my academic dreams.
Giulio,
Congratulations, Alex, on a wonderful high school career at Newton South! Carpe Diem We love you, Mom, Dad, Hannah, Ben and Elias
You crawled, you ran, but rarely walked You spoke, you laughed, but rarely cried You learned, you grew, you taught us everything We will hold you tight as you swim away... ...but not far and not for long and not forever Congratulations on swimming up to the next bigger pond. You will be the greatest Goat WPI has ever had. Love, Lady, Freits, Belle, Sassy, Tot, Romeo, Maggie, Bullseye, Reeses, and of course Cleopatra