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Although I don't see myself as a writer, I have won a few awards for my storytelling from MIPA. This includes four honorable mentions and one 3rd place. I also love helping staffers whenever I can!

2017 Callings: A Thing of Beauty - MIPA personality profile 3rd place

From Instagram and Twitter to Facebook and Pinterest, all you ever see are images and videos of people that seem to be happy and living what most people would call the “perfect life.” You see people loving their life and enjoying the beauty of it, but that’s only a cyber fantasy, with the exception of sophomore Isabele McGrath. McGrath vividly brought to life what others only dreamed about and idealized online. She found meaning in all of life's challenges and wasn’t scared to ask questions along the way.

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“I think the world has inspired me to just be who I am,” McGrath said. “And it’s taught me not to try to be someone else [and to] not have to worry about how I look to some people.”

 

As McGrath grew, the world started to unfold before her. She didn’t want to miss capturing a single ounce of its beauty, so she decided to capture what the world began to show her through art - the beauty and love of life.

 

“When I started going into art that I noticed that everything has a beauty in it but you just have to sometimes find it,” McGrath said. “The world has taught me that there's so much going on right now that it’s hard to find hope and stuff. But, it’s always there, you just have to find it.”

 

Art wasn’t just a way for McGrath to capture the beauty of the world, but a way to escape from reality in doing so. Her life had never been easy, but she found happiness in things no one could imagine was possible.

 

“I became interested in music and art when I was very little because of my past. At the age of three, I was put in a foster home and I wasn’t adopted until the age of eight. They have been a big help for me and coping with all my emotions because I don't like sharing my emotions with people so it’s just an easier way to express it.”

“Being in foster care affected me in many ways. It’s caused me to get a lot of issues like  really bad depression and anxiety and I have trust issues,” she said.

Doing what she does best, McGrath worked hard to turn her negative situation into a positive lesson for herself.

“[ ] taught me to be a stronger person, [ ]always taught me that actions speak louder than words. It also helped me learn like different perspectives of life and I feel like now when everyone's like ‘oh there's a good life and a bad life’ I just think, well, it depends how you look at it.”

You never know what a person has been through so when you meet a person think of them as a song. As McGrath said “ Every song has a story just like every person has a story of their own to tell.”

2017 Callings: Praying to Win - MIPA sports feature writing honorable mention

It was a vital night. With a chance of making the playoffs - and ultimately succeeding - athletes played for their cancer heros. All players picked someone important to them who had or is fighting cancer. Senior running back, Kullan Jamieson, played with “Polzin” on his back. It was the maiden name of his old friend, Miss Schemes. She was a middle school lunch lady and his pal. Polzin was her father.

As he played, he kept his mother, grandmother, great grandmother, grandpa, and Miss Schemes in his mind and heart. “They love me like no one else can,” Jamieson said.

Jamieson’s ritual was to pray alone on the field before every game, in the same spot at the same time. Jamieson took his time before this game, though. He prayed longer and thought more throughout this game.

 

“It’s a great honor,”  he said. “I just love them all on a different type of level.”

2017 Callings: Lets Get Down to Business - MIPA academic writing honorable mention

It was the hotspot known for its cookies, which sophomore Samantha Heron said was basically tasty, gooey cookie dough.

The cookies were a draw, but the staff of the Student Store wanted to create a space that was also out of this world. They designed the interior of the store with black walls, gold and silver stars, and blow-up aliens.

Still, the class was far more than just design. It was making sure everything was stocked, neat, and run like a business.

While learning the ropes, junior Mallory Miller said that her biggest challenge was time management.

“I’m in Marketing I currently, and I’m planning on taking Marketing II next year because it seems really interesting, and I really enjoyed Marketing I,” Miller said.

While taking Marketing II, senior Alana Thompson discovered the hardest part was collaborating with her peers and making a business together.

“You have to find common strengths between you and the people you’re working with,” Thompson said. “The stuff you don’t have in common, you’ll find someone else that you do have that in common with.”

 

Through all of the challenges the students faced, senior Lawson Bainbridge found a new way of working in and out of the classroom.

 

“Mr. Green taught me how to run a store better and taught me work ethic,” Bainbridge said. “Also, [he taught me] how to manage a business and keep one running.”

 

As many of Mr. Green’s students closed down the store and graduated, they found a way to carry what they had learn in his classroom into their future.

 

“I want to work in fashion photography,” Thompson said. “Sophomore year I was modeling and I didn’t like that part. I learned you can’t do anything if you don’t market yourself.”

 

As for Bainbridge, he didn’t see business in his future, but saw business as something he could lean on because it is involved in many careers. Miller had the same perspective as Bainbridge and continued her journey in DECA as well as in the Marketing II classroom.

2017 Callings: Bouncing Back - MIPA sports reporting honorable mention

Beat up and worn out, the Varsity Basketball players fell silent and reflective after their loss.  The team aimed to come out victorious against Carman Ainsworth. However, after their unexpected loss, their emotions flatlined.

 

“I was angry, very upset,” junior Jackarus Smith said. “I don’t like to lose, so I didn’t say anything after the game. I didn’t even say anything to my family after the game.”

 

Even though he was disappointed, Smith recognized himself as a leader not just for Varsity but for the program as a whole.

 

“[My coach] trusted me enough to do what I have to do,” Smith said. “I’m more vocal than anybody else and I try to lead by example.”

 

Not only did his coach, Rob Mcrae, encourage him to take on this role, but former NBA player, Jeff Gure, inspired Smith as well.

2017 Callings: Swooping for Success - MIPA sports reporting honorable mention

Blake Bogan took days to prepare for his third and final Varsity Homecoming Football game. Bogan had been preparing himself since he and his team lost to Milford a week before.

 

“I think about it every chance I get,” Bogan said. “All day every day.”

 

The homecoming football game was a game every football player looked forward to. Bogan got excited for every other Friday night game, but this game was different.

 

“I feel great just to be a part of such a great school,” Bogan said. “I love how our fans come out and support us.”

 

The game was almost as tough for the fans as it was for the players. With a rain delay of 30 minutes and an evacuation of the game, over half of the student section showed back up.

 

Maxwell Behm, a senior who stands in the front row of every football game said, “The rain didn’t stop anyone, cheering for the team even though we had to put a delay on it, showed our unity.”

 

This was the last homecoming game for most of the senior football players, but for Bogan, who verbally committed to Eastern within the first few games of the season, this was not his last homecoming game.

 

“They showed me how much they wanted me,” Bogan said. “It just felt right. I wanted to be there.”

Kevin Coriasso, the senior quarterback for the bobcats, had been playing with Bogan for the past two years. Coriasso got injured in the homecoming game, but was fighting to finish out the season with his teammates.

 

“I see what it takes to be a Division 1 player everyday at practice,” Coriasso said. “It makes me work and play harder.”

 

Bogan worked for this scholarship since his sophomore year when he fell in love with the sport. He got a call from Eastern the day after the football team played Carmen Ainsworth. During the Carmen game, Bogan scored three touchdowns and felt as if he made his teammates, family, and coaches proud.  

2018 Blanc Slate: Hannah Carnell 

No more family photos, no more big happy family, no more mom and dad under the same roof. Instead, it was packing, planning, and traveling from one home to the other. But for sophomore Hannah Carnell, it became the idea of never seeing her father again.

 

“My parents are divorced and I live with my mom,” Carnell said. “When I was really little, he [my biological father] cheated on my mom, then he cheated on my stepmom. It’s showed me what to look for in a guy that isn’t good for you.”

 

Carnell was only two when her parents divorced, but was pleased to see her mother so happy with her stepdad.

 

“She has shown me never to give up and what bravery is,” Carnell said. “She was scared to leave my dad because she didn’t know what he would do to her. But she did anyway, and now she has a good life.”

 

Although Carnell’s biological father became a part of her past, her step dad helped her repair some of the trust issues she started to have with men from experiences with her father.

 

“He is like my dad. He is that father figure to me,” Carnell said. “Seeing so many bad relationships from my dad, he has shown me what a good one is like. He was that model for me.”

 

Carnell no longer wanted to see her father every weekend, and her aunt, unknowingly, played a role in setting her free.

 

“She was the first person to say, ‘I don’t ever want to see this man again,’” said Carnell. “To me it was like, if she can do it, I can do it. I’m not alone in this.”

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