The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

The official student newspaper of Walter Johnson High School

The Pitch

Old Memories, New Beginnings: WJ Class of 2012 Seniors Reflect on High School Experiences

As the school year comes to a close, no one is more excited for the coming year than the senior class. The graduating seniors are going their separate ways following their May 31 commencement. Many are enrolled in colleges and universities across the country, but a few are heading abroad or working.

While high school students receive a generalized education, college provides students the chance to receive a higher education in topics in which they are in interested.

No statement is more true for Valerie Segal, who will attend Parsons School of Design in the fall. Segal has had her eye on Parsons since the age of six. Segal immersed herself in various art classes and clubs, eventually becoming the president of Photography Club as a senior. Segal was a part of Art Club during her junior year, which later evolved into Art Honor Society, in which she is currently secretary. Additionally, Segal is in both the French and National Honor Societies.

Segal is looking to pursue an education in fashion design, an art topic she has found that she enjoys.

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“Well I’m an artist, I paint, I draw [and] I do a little bit of photography,” said Segal. “But I choose to express my artistic integrity and art in my creativity through fashion, just because it’s something that really interests me, and I think [fashion is] empowering to women.”

In contrast, the majority of Miklos Szebeni’s interests lie in the math and sciences. During his time at WJ, Szebeni was involved in volleyball, Science Olympiad, Sailing Club, Mathletes, The Pitch, Physics Olympics and Final Frontiers. He will be attending Princeton University this fall. Szebeni applied early action to both Dartmouth College and Princeton, and decided on Princeton during the summer.

“I guess [I was confident I would get in],” he said. “But I wouldn’t have been disappointed had I not.”

Szebeni was attracted to Princeton due to its medium size, strong liberal arts education and physics department. However, he also was captivated by the campus itself.

“I chose Princeton most simply because I fell in love with the campus with its leafy scenery and gothic buildings,” said Szebeni.

Szebeni praises WJ for the opportunities it provides for students to excel academically, and as a whole, he describes his high school experience as positive. Szebeni opted for a rigorous senior schedule, taking six AP courses. However, he has no regrets.

“Although during school I often wished that I had taken a lighter course load, now having finished school, I would change very little if I had to do it again,” he said.

But though Szebeni speaks positively of WJ’s course offerings of academically rigorous classes, he advises underclassmen not to overload themselves with work and get burned out too quickly in their high school careers.

“I didn’t do APEX, chose to take Matter and Energy over Biology freshman year, and took only one AP class sophomore year, but [I] had no problem getting into top U.S. colleges,” he said. “School will get really intense junior year anyways, and you want to still be fresh and eager by the time it comes.”

Szebeni had many enjoyable experiences throughout his time at WJ, some of which include writing for The Pitch Online, going out on the water with the Sailing Club and going to the national competition with Science Olympiad. In particular, Szebeni also says that he will miss two teachers and classes, Karen Generose and Mike Richards, who teach Latin and physics, respectively.

“I enjoyed physics class for the fascinating revelations which the class provided on the physical phenomena of the world, as well as for Mr. Richards’ great sense of humor and high expectations for his students,” he said. “I enjoyed Latin class for the quality of the works which we translated, and for the intriguing history which Ms. Generose would always find ways to slip in.”

However, unlike Szebeni, Allie Daniere was more involved with school athletics throughout her freshman, sophomore and junior years, but dropped them senior year in order to focus on her academics and college applications. Daniere was also involved with WJ clubs, though not as actively, she said, as some of her friends.

While many students may say that their experiences made through clubs and sports are their most memorable, Daniere says that the time she spent with her friends meant the most to her.

“Definitely my most memorable experiences were within my own social group, [such as] hanging out with my friends, and getting closer to my friends [or] going on trips with them.” she said. “I went on this really fun ski trip with my best friend, and I just got really close to her because of all the different activities we did together.”

Throughout Segal’s four years at WJ, one of her favorite aspects of high school has been the community within the senior class.

“When you come in as a freshman, you have a core group of friends,” she said. “But by the time you’re a senior, you’re friends with a lot of people in your grade, you’re on good terms with almost everyone, and you, especially in your senior year, become such a family.”

Segal also enjoys the close ties she has established with the art department, through painting murals with the Art Club, or producing a calendar with the Photography Club.

“Just being a part of that, doing what I love to do, which is art, and giving it back to the community is awesome,” said Segal, whose senior year schedule allowed her to spend the majority of her day in the art wing. “I’m definitely going to miss the people I’ve grown up with over the years.”

Overall, Segal describes her high school experience as one with ups and downs, which she says is typical of a teenager.

“I’d say my high school experience was pretty good overall,” said Segal. “I enjoyed high school a lot, I wasn’t one of those kids that didn’t like it.”

Daniere says that her WJ experience was a very positive one, due to its “free environment,” where cliques aren’t necessarily a huge problem, students have open lunch and there is less hazing than in some other schools.

“People don’t really feel left out. There are a few people in the hallways that sit alone, but overall people are generally really accepted,” she said. “I love that, I feel like I’ve always fit in, and I’ve had a good experience.”

But if Daniere could go back and change something about her high school years, she said she would try and boost her confidence level as an underclassman.

“I guess freshmen go into high school, and they’re very focused on their appearances and fitting in, and having that network of people to make them feel important and worthy,” said Daniere. “Everyone struggles through that, and I guess I would have told myself, ‘Don’t be scared of high school, don’t be scared of different pressures.’”

In the fall, Daniere plans to attend the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), though she did not make a final decision until quite recently. Having also been accepted into a six year accelerated medical school program at University of Missouri, Kansas City, Daniere had a difficult choice to make. If she decided to attend UMCP, Daniere would receive free tuition because her mother is currently employed there. But in the end, Daniere decided that she wasn’t ready to commit to both a college and a career. Choosing UMCP will allow Daniere to explore other career options, while also leaving the door open to medicine.

“They were two really competitive options for me,” said Daniere. “So two days ago, I had been struggling with this decision for a month now, I decided just to go to [UMCP], because I’m not ready to dive into the profession of becoming a doctor just yet.”

Although, like Daniere, Segal also thoroughly enjoyed high school, she wishes she got more involved as a freshman. She did not get involved with many clubs or activities until her junior and senior years. But Segal says that she will primarily take the social aspects of high school with her to art school next year.

“Honestly, you’re academic for a good 25 years of your life, but really knowing how to connect with people, make friends and get involved [is important],” she said.

In addition to her confidence and old friends, Daniere says she will take the study habits she obtained in high school with her to college in the fall.

“I will definitely take all my study habits,” she said. “I learned what it means to work hard, especially in my AP Biology class.”

But at the moment, Segal currently is looking forward to the independence she will gain in the future.

“[I’m looking forward to] the independence and the break of structure, because when you’re in high school, you kind of live in this bubble of ‘go to school, go home, do your homework, talk to your parents, hang out with your friends,’” said Segal. “But when you’re an adult, you don’t have that, and [you have] the freedom of doing what [you] want with [your] life, and how [you] want to do it.”

Szebeni is looking forward to concentrating his studies on the areas in which he is most interested, as well as taking time to travel and study abroad. Although he says he cannot speak of the future, he knows that he will continue to appreciate his time spent at WJ.

“There’s a saying that God has a good laugh whenever we try to foresee what we will be like in the future,” he said. “I have absolutely no idea what or where I will be in the future, but am sure that I will look back fondly on my WJ days.”

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Megan Chun, Online Editor-in-Chief
This is senior Megan Chun’s third year on The Pitch staff, and her second consecutive year as the Online Editor-in-Chief. She is excited to continue her work on The Pitch Online with the new group of online editors. Megan’s activities (besides procrastinating and editing online blurbs) include Irish dancing, drinking smoothies, color-coding her closet, taking naps and watching cop dramas. Megan is eager to work with co-editors Emily and Claudia, in addition to the rest of the great 2013-2014 Pitch staff.
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