In Depth10

Find the journey of self-discovery

Kelly Weber In depth editor

youRSELFTo her, this meant getting in-

volved and branching out from St. Peter in Kirkwood, the small, Catholic grade school she was so used to. Now, as a class officer, track runner and varsity pom-mie, Loida has found her niche. However, discovering her place at KHS was not always easy.

After a close friendship fell apart the summer before her sophomore year, Loida real-ized she needed to stop and

evaluate the personal boundar-ies and values, particularly trust, that must be developed in high school. By encouraging her to form new close friendships, the experience strengthened her in-dependence.

“Right then is kind of when I found my own voice. I’m proud that I feel like I’ve kept my abil-ity to see right from wrong and chosen my friends accordingly,” Loida said. “Right now I’m just re-ally happy and confident, and it

On my wayhomework done on time,” Neu said.

The influence of the teachers and principals encouraging students to get involved had an impact on Neu, who knows the best way to reach her goals is to get involved with as much as possible and keep a good reputation. At the end of her high school career Neu see’s herself as the girl she dreamed to be her freshman year.

as possible and never slacks in academics. She has high expectations for herself and plans to get good grades and in-volve herself in many ac-tivities. Neu is a JV pom-mie and plans to achieve her goals in high school to make a good name for herself.

“I am going to make sure I am always talk-ing to my teachers and of course getting all my

For Liz Neu, freshman, the decision of what kind of person she wanted to be in high school came easy.

“I definitely want to be the kind of person who is involved and lives up to the expectations of what a good high-schooler should be,” Neu said.

In Neu’s eyes a good high school student is someone who gets in-volved with as many clubs

Ellen HeaghneyIn depth writer

Along with every other freshman who walked in the doors of KHS, Ian Huff-man, junior, never felt so overwhelmed. Hundreds of faces he had never seen before rushed by and his classes were not easy to find, let alone a group of friends.

Huffman was home-schooled until his freshman year and was taught to be in-dependent and work hard. Al-though he works hard to keep his position as top five in the junior class, not many other as-pects of his high school career allow him alone time.

“Having band practice for two weeks before school started was very helpful,” Huff-

man said. “It was nice because I actually knew some people. That helped me when school started.”

Huffman feels being a drum major of marching band, par-ticipating in jazz band, link crew, FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and baseball have brought him out of his timid and shy state to a more outgoing and comfortable 17 year old.

“I couldn’t pinpoint [one ac-tivity at KHS] that has made me more comfortable,” Huffman said. “It is the whole Kirkwood atmosphere and all of the peo-ple around me that made me more comfortable here.”

The FCA helped Huffman find his place at KHS. As a stu-dent whose faith is important

Almost there

Kelsey Landrum photographer Grant McKenna photographer

Sitting in the darkened Keating Theater on the first day of her freshman year, sur-rounded by more than 450 of her new classmates, Mag-gie Loida, junior, was de-termined to throw herself into her new school and make the most of a new and frightening experience.

“I wanted to be the girl that everyone knew,” Loida said.

11In DepthSeptember 19, 2012

Find the journey of self-discoveryI made it

Tadros also recognizes the difference between the people who she was drawn to her freshman year and who she is closest with now.

“At first, it was all about people who gave and got attention; bad boys who gave attention, girls who drew drama in toward them for attention,” Tadros said. “Then around the end of sophomore or beginning of ju-nior year, you realize just how much drama can happen in high school. It’s all very day-to-day, like, ‘He did this’ or ‘She said that.’ You just want to drop it all. You realize that it’s time to grow up.”

After three years of high school, Tadros has fig-ured out the key to being happy and comfortable with herself.

“I surround myself with people who make me hap-py; people who steer me in the right direction, who not only want me to have fun but want me to succeed too,” Tadros said.

As for success, Tadros has worked hard for years to achieve the goals she set for herself.

“I definitely have higher expectations for myself now that I know I can manage a workload, a leadership role, a sport, my family, heck sometimes even a boy-friend,” Tadros said.

One of the most important factors in her suc-cess has been utilizing the support system she found at KHS.

“This is my family now,” Tadros said.

evaluate the personal boundar-ies and values, particularly trust, that must be developed in high school. By encouraging her to form new close friendships, the experience strengthened her in-dependence.

“Right then is kind of when I found my own voice. I’m proud that I feel like I’ve kept my abil-ity to see right from wrong and chosen my friends accordingly,” Loida said. “Right now I’m just re-ally happy and confident, and it

nities junior year.“Most things I do now I started just last year when I

got a lot more comfortable and more involved just by signing up for things—fun things that I’m good at and like to do,” Smith said.

Among these new activities was class office, which he was encouraged to run for by a close friend.

“I actually ran for class office junior year sort of by accident. I ran with a friend, and we ended up getting third place and becoming co-secretaries,” Smith said.

Although he enjoyed class office, Smith did not plan to run senior year until approached by his grade level principal, Mike Gavin. Now he recognizes the encour-agement to run ended up putting him right where he needed to be.

“It wasn’t really a goal of mine to become class president, it all just sort of happened after I started do-ing what I wanted to do and being myself and doing what makes me happy,” Smith said.

Beginning as a frightened freshman and learning to be comfortable with the person he is, Smith has dis-covered the importance of getting involved and mak-ing the most of your time at KHS.

“I’ve learned through high school that there are so many people everywhere around here,” Smith said. “It’s really a shame to not be able to get to know every single person in depth, because everyone is awesome in their own way. There are so many opportunities here at Kirkwood that if you choose one, you feel like you miss out on all the others and you wish you could be doing everything at once, and it’s just not possible.”

man said. “It was nice because I actually knew some people. That helped me when school started.”

Huffman feels being a drum major of marching band, par-ticipating in jazz band, link crew, FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and baseball have brought him out of his timid and shy state to a more outgoing and comfortable 17 year old.

“I couldn’t pinpoint [one ac-tivity at KHS] that has made me more comfortable,” Huffman said. “It is the whole Kirkwood atmosphere and all of the peo-ple around me that made me more comfortable here.”

The FCA helped Huffman find his place at KHS. As a stu-dent whose faith is important

to him, Huffman feels the sup-port of FCA has really gotten him through high school.

“It’s really cool to have a re-ally strong group of other people who identify with you and are by your side to encourage you,” Huffman said.

Huffman believes he gradual-ly found himself at KHS by grow-ing from a quiet and reserved person into a leader and role model to many.

Almost there

Elise Tadros, senior, has always been a leader. In-volved in class office all four years, she is now senior class vice president. Her résumé lists quite a few extracurriculars such as Astronomy Club, Circle of Friends, National Honor Society and two water polo teams, KHS and club. Past en-deavors include volleyball, field hockey and cross country.

Tadros describes her initial ideal freshman vision as pretty typical.

“I wanted leadership and for people to look up to me, but I also wanted to help people and make them laugh and smile,” Tadros said. “I wanted a solid group of friends, but then, who doesn’t?”

After being cut from volleyball her sophomore year, Tadros tried out for and made the field hockey team. It was not until later that year Tadros recognized it had been a blessing in disguise.

“I got to meet so many great girls and try something totally new,” Tadros said. “It was my first big rejection, and it was hard, but the best learning experience.”

Describing herself as spontaneous, Tadros decided to give cross country a try her junior year before finally set-tling on water polo.

Although getting involved at KHS right away helped Tadros start on the path to where she is today, she feels her friends have truly shaped who she has become.

“The minute I found a good group of friends, I knew that people who put me down and are negative just don’t matter. I’ve found my set group of friends that are my sis-ters,” Tadros said.

Danny Smith, senior, still recalls the initial scare of his first days at KHS. Coming from Mary Queen of Peace, he knew very few of his classmates and did not know what to expect at his new school.

“I was ‘that kid’ first day of freshman year. The caf-eteria—that was awkward. I just sat with some kids I kind of knew from my first hours. Glad that’s over, actually,” Smith said.

Now, it is difficult to find a senior who does not know Smith. Senior class president, varsity linebacker, musical performer, ultimate Frisbee captain, member of DECA and League of Extraordinary Gentlemen—Smith has embraced many of the opportunities KHS has to offer, joining several of these extracurriculars as recently as junior year.

The challenge of adjusting freshman year was difficult, as Smith did not have a strong idea of what he hoped to ac-complish and get involved in.

“There was definitely something that I didn’t want to be-come—things I wanted to stay away from, and I kept that in mind, but really I just wanted friends and fun people to hang out with,” Smith said.

Faced with more challenging classes his sophomore year, Smith focused most of his attention on schoolwork and football, but as he became more accustomed to the bustling halls of Kirkwood, Smith began to notice a change.

“Mid-sophomore year I really started to become com-fortable with the people around me,” Smith said. “After you get comfortable with your classes and your school and start to recognize people and get to know everyone better, it be-comes a lot easier to be yourself.”

With more confidence and a desire to get involved, Smith continued to throw himself into Kirkwood’s opportu-