2021_Senior_Special_Issue

Yellow Springs High School C L A S S O F 2 0 2 1 A Special Section of the YELLOW SPRINGS NEWS | May 20, 2021 11 The Yellow Springs Community Foundation Yellow Springs Library Association Yellow Springs News SAMANTHA SNYDER PARENTS/GUARDIANS: Jennifer and Mark Snyder Growing up in Yellow Springs has been a very special experience for me. I came into the Yellow Springs school in eighth grade with a few friends from my old school. I went to Antioch for elementary and Stivers for seventh grade so I did not grow up with most of the people I go to school with as many of them did together at Mills Lawn Elementary. As time went on, I began to form deep connections here. YSHS became a place where I could find my roots and flourish. I feel I have changed as a person and become more confident, even though I have plenty of room to grow. Over the years I joined many different clubs, includ- ing SPIDEE, School Forest, Student Review Board, Youth Roots and more. I was able to gain great leadership experience in them and make new friendships. Otherwise, I believe I never would have gotten the oppor- tunities and experiences that I had at YSHS and living in this community. However, this year was very different. The pandemic impacted a lot of my plans for my last year. I never imagined that practically our entire senior year would be taken away from us all. Learning from home was very difficult, but it showed me how much the teachers and staff cared as they worked together to make it the best experience possible. I continued to meet with my extracurriculars through Google Meets or Zoom calls, and although the screens made it very hard to find that connection and excitement I had felt in years before, we always did the best we could. I am very sad about everything that I missed out on this year, including just spending all of my final year with my peers. I think the pandemic has brought people together more, especially the Village of Yellow Springs. I saw how the community came together to make sure community members had the supplies they needed during this time, and any other help, too. I am very grateful that, over this past year, I have been able to bond and build upon rela- tionships that will last a lifetime. Every- one around me has persevered to get through this, especially this school year. I know that this is not the senior year I expected, but I am happy with all the great memories I have made. I want to thank all my teachers at YSHS for helping me out and all my friends for being there for me. I really appreciate the time I have had at YSHS and I can’t wait for the class of 2021 to go out and change the world. IVAN SPAR PARENTS/GUARDIANS: Lisa Cartwright, Jonathan Spar The thing that a school like Yellow Springs has over other schools is the teachers. I think that overall, despite the lack of a fully fleshed-out cur- riculum and course selection like larger, better-funded schools have, we have teachers who are passion- ate and care about their students, so it creates stronger bonds that larger schools with thousands of students can’t replicate well. I would like to shout out my guidance counselor and French teacher, Mr. Smith; my APUSH teacher, Mrs. Weinstein; and my English teacher, Ms. Lutz, for being great, understanding and down- to-ear th individuals. I also want to shout out to my dog, Walter, for being the bestest boy. After I graduate, I plan to save money and move to Tokyo to learn Japanese full time for a year, and then come back and go to Ohio State Uni- versity to get my degree in whatever I decide when I get to that point in my life. I am really bad at planning/look- ing ahead, so I have no idea what will happen in the next 10 years — I’m just going with the flow as of now. I also want to shout out the homies. Overall, I think that my experience in Yellow Springs has been easy-going and I felt under-challenged by the cur- riculum and overall unprepared for college, but the teachers were pretty cool. HUNTER SPARKS No response submitted. TRINIDAD SPECK- ALMANZAR PARENTS/GUARDIANS: Keri Speck, Izrael Almanzar Shout to out the homie Meech. R.I.P Eli Julian. MARLEY THOMAS PARENTS/GUARDIANS: Erica and Justin Thomas Yellow Springs is cool as long as you’re cool. I grew up around Juggalos and Deadheads for most of my child- hood, so needless to say was I expe- rienced. Coming to Yellow Springs in Kindergarten, I was always kind to my classmates and was quick to make friends. I quickly grew a reputation for being the kid who knew how to spell all of the long words and had soft, buzz-cut hair and had the mom with dreads who owned a candy store and who would come in and read to the class. I would listen to my class- mates and try to think (with how few functioning brain cells I had) and talk about deeper topics in the world that we did not yet understand. My peers and teachers created an environment where I felt free to think and collabo- rate. As I grew up (and grew my hair out) I worked through my awkward and shy phases into a more confident sense of self. I’m grateful I had friends and teachers who have helped con- tribute to the person I am today. My friends Elijah and Ian have tainted and enriched my life artistically by making me join their band Trash Fart, a musical venture which brings me stimulation and creativity. There is no joy greater than making music out of the erroneous screeching of guitars and feedbacked microphones. My coworker and reliable butt of the joke Spencer gave me an amazing opportunity to work at a coffee shop downtown, and it has molded me into a confident worker with a dedicated effort to my job. Most of my self-actu- ation came from the conversations, ideas, and jokes I’ve had with each of my friends. O U R S P O N S O R S