By Brendan Hellweg ’14
Friendly competition is a hallmark of Williston society; from Wildcat teams and club sports like Ultimate Frisbee to the occasional academic rivalry, we’re rife with the competitive spirit. A new outlet for this mindset has sprung up, one that has drawn dozens of students to the library to show their skills at the age old game – Scrabble. Student vocabularies are put to the test as the boys’ and girls’ teams face off in increasingly close matches.
Between news of hockey meets and the rollout of our new slogan during Wednesday’s assembly, a few brave seniors stood up all over the chapel and recited a poem that they had created to sum up the school and its impact on its students in a few words.
Their combined years at Williston is longer than most students here have lived, and I found their poem to be a touching tribute to the place that has shaped them so profoundly. I hope you enjoy reading it.
“Anyone who has ever auditioned can tell you that auditioning is no easy feat,” says Denison Marsland-Rello ’13, who recently was cast in The Laramie Project at Williston. ”It is taxing mentally, and physically, and emotionally.”
There’s something terrifying about being judged definitively on one moment in time, whether it’s for an awkward prom-posal, a display of one’s tremendous hops for basketball, a try-out for a dance concert, or an audition for a play. In each moment, there’s a yes or a no, and even after trying one’s hardest, it’s all up to fate.
I kind of love the Williston Film Club. They have this way of creating these beautiful, professional-looking videos in their spare time without collapsing under the strain of every other committment life has to offer. Without letting schoolwork completely disappear from their lives, they dazzle us and make us laugh with their creative camerawork.
I think my favorite thing they do there is the Man on the Street series where they ask a couple dozen people a quick question and compile the responses. The result can be very good.
With the permission of the club, I’m going to be posting their videos here as they come and will try to showcase their work as much as I can. This first one, by Cade Zawacki ’15 and Jilly Lim ’13, looks at our mission statement in a really great way. Enjoy.
When the senior year comes to a close, students start to want to try something big, something new, something the school can’t offer in the core curriculum. Seniors want something to do that is really meaningful to them, and the fact that this option opens up a free period a few days a week doesn’t hurt their desire either.
Senior projects are an outlet for creativity beyond a normal class day and a chance to end the year with a flourish. Jennie Hall is one of many seniors who puts her heart into creating a fantastic way to end their high school career, and it seems that everywhere we go we see the latest showing of creativity and passion.
Jen’s project, “Unique and Incomplete” is, if anything, a study in the nature of humanity, exploring the human psyche by creating art not in the search of beauty or perfection, but of individuality. No person is perfect, and in art, trying to create perfection comes at the cost of realism. Jen opted for a sort of realism, crafting imperfection to reflect the nature of society.
