By Gina Rodeghero

Gavi Klawikoski, Yoselin Galeano, Juan Chavez and Casey McDonald all have role models. Photo by: Gina Rodeghero

As people go through their journey of life, some tend to follow in the footsteps of role models who inspire them and help shape the way they think.

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Karl Pogue and Adam Kolaz think about the memories of freshman year. Photo by: Tori Godwin

By Tori Godwin
High school can be a new and interesting experience, but students who already went through their freshman year know what to expect for incoming freshman and what kind of experiences they went through. As the four years of high school linger on, freshman year will be remembered as the beginning of learning, making tough decisions and the time of change. Looking back on their freshman year, some students had challenges that they had to overcome and lessons to learn.  Each freshman has to deal with becoming more independent and maturing into adulthood. Growing up can be a scary thing, but everyone has to go through it. Freshman year is the building block year into becoming an adult in the school community.

Sophomore Karl Pogue admits that his freshman year was not great for him, but his experiences have helped him through school this year. “ I know who to trust now.” He said. For senior Krissy Wieringa, her freshman year was very eye opening. She stated “ It really motivated me for my future years of high school.” Sophomore Adam Kolaz said “ My experience as a freshman was much better than any of my

previous years [of school]. I made a bunch of new friends.”As the first year of high school comes to an end, people may start to change. Students start to learn more about themselves and they start to realize what is truly best for them. Also, their views start to change. “ My views on friendship, personal responsibility, motivation and self-discipline changed. You cannot let friends control you, you are responsible for your own actions, motivation takes you to greater places and to be a good role model for others, you need to control yourself.” Pogue stated “ I realized that if you trust people[too much], you are giving them permission to destroy you.” Kolaz said “ The main view that changed was my opinion about my religion.”

With views changing among people, goals may change as well. Students may finally learn what they want do with their lives. For Pogue, his goals have continued to stay the same. “ I still want to go to Ireland, still want to record an album, and still want to jam out acoustically with a bunch of random people I have never met.” Wieringa agrees with Pogue about her goals not really changing. She stated “ Not really. My goal has always been to find a place where I am needed and I have found it.” Kolaz simply said “ No, my goals have not changed.”

Freshman year may have been hard for students because of challenges that they had to face and overcome. With this prior knowledge of the challenge, going into the next three years of high school could possibly be easier for them. Wieringa sad that she did have challenges to face that helped her gain knowledge for the rest of her high school career. She explained “ I had to learn how to take responsibility for myself and not let people lead me astray. I allowed negative influences to change who I really was.” Pogue had challenges as a freshman but he thinks his sophomore year is a little tougher than his freshman year. He said “ I have faced more challenges now than as a freshman.”

Thinking back to to the beginning year of high school, students might have regrets and things that they wish someone would have said to them before freshman year starts. Maybe it would be something simple like “do not forget to practice your locker combination” or it could be something serious like “ do not ruin your life for that person or that group of friends.” Pogue wishes that someone would have told him “ no one wants to be a bass [guitar] player.” Wieringa said “ I wish someone would have told me “ You can beat the system” or “You can change. It does not have to be this way.”

Knowing what they wish someone would have told them would help out a lot if they were to give someone else advice. Wieringa knows that freshman year can be hard when friends are controlling and life itself gets hard, so her advice is “always look ahead and do not beat yourself up if you start out poorly. Just get on the track that you truly want to be on.” For Pogue, he knows that it is hard when friends become enemies, so his advice is “keep your guard up and surround yourself with the right people.”

Their first year of high school may be over, but knowing what life lessons they have learned can help them through life inside and outside of high school. Pogue said that he did not learn any life lessons as a freshman, but has been learning them as a sophomore. Kolaz said that he learned that God is actually important. Wieringa stated “ I learned that you need to march to the beat of your own drum. [Also], anyone can be a follower, but it takes someone great to be a leader.”

When times get hard in school this year, these three students can unlock the memories of their freshman year and everything that they have learned. Remembering these lessons will help these three students march on through this year and keep these lessons in the back of their minds for future use.

Kannika Chaisri and Sophie Urban never imagined their cultures would one day meet in America. Photo by: Patricia Ortiz

By Patricia Ortiz

Being away from home can be tough. With the school year wrapping up, the foreign exchange students talk about how their year in the U.S. has gone.

This year has been a new year of new adventures. These new adventures have been for everyone including the foreign exchange students. Many new adventures have occurred since the beginning of the year for the foreign exchange students. School has provided different experiences for the foreign exchange girls  at Plymouth. Senior Misaki Fukawa explains how school is going right now. She says “It is not bad and it is better than the beginning of the school year.” Of course at the beginning of the school year it may have been tough not knowing anyone and being at a large school where anyone can get lost. Senior Kannika Chaisri explains how school is. She says “I think everything is going well now.” Like Chaisri, Senior Sophie Urban also says, “ I think school is going pretty good for me.” Things can turn out for the better when people keep a positive attitude and work towards goals that need to be accomplished.

Being away from home for more than six months can cause nostalgia for certain things. Some can miss families while others can miss their customs. Fukowa misses, “ Japanese food a lot.” Food can definitely be missed especially if it is a home cooked meal prepared by mom. Others missed being with family for the holidays and other special events. Urban explains that she missed home because of Christmas and her sister’s birthday. Of course there are ways to get over homesickness. Chaisri has a plan to get over being homesick, “ make myself busy.” Staying active and not thinking about home are good ways to not miss home so much.

Many new experiences have happened in the United States since the foreign exchange students arrived. They were able to experience holidays such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Valentine’s day.  Of Fukowa’s experiences her two favorite have been, “ Christmas and the Chicago trip.” Christmas is always a favorite especially when people experience it through another culture. A holiday or a trip do not necessarily have to be favorite experiences. Being part of a team or meeting new people can all be great things that make for a favorite experience. “ My favorite experience is being on the swim team,” explains Chaisri about her favorite experience  in the U.S. Like Chaisri, Urban says, “ Joining marching band and gymnastics,” have been her favorite experiences.

Snow is very typical in Indiana during the months of December, January, and sometimes February. The first time little kids see snow it is exciting because it is a new experience. Coming from a country were there is no snow can certainly leave an impression on the life of that individual. Fukowa said, “ I expected to have more snow. I was more surprised about the temperature than the snow. It is so cold.” Many of the people would agree with Fukowa about how cold it has gotten here in the past few months. For other foreign exchange students like Urban snow is typical in their native country so it came as no surprise.

Every year Plymouth High School has  foreign exchange students from around the globe. Of course with the student body and faculty getting to know those student’s life can change. Fukowa explained that she really did not think she had made an impact in the life of her peers. Many would not agree with Fukowa and instead say that in fact she has impacted the life of others around her. Her different culture has helped people realize what goes on around the world. That is in fact what happened to Chaisri. She states that, “ My friends are more interested in Thailand, Thai language and Thai culture because it is so different from American culture.” Thanks to the foreign exchange students, students at Plymouth High School are now able to understand and know about different cultures from around the globe.

The year is slowly coming to a close. Before students know it, it will be May and students will all have to say good-bye. Many things still need to be accomplished before the end of the year. The foreign exchange students were asked what they still hope to accomplish before the end of the school year. Chaisri would like to, “ Speak English very well because English is an important language.” Fukowa wants to also improve her English and hopes to, “ make more friends.”