The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder
The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder
The Official Student News Site of Parkway West High

Pathfinder
“My biggest achievement in sports was when my teammates and I placed second at a track and field invitational. I am on the JV team, and we ran the 4x400, which is a relay with four people, and we each ran 400 meters or one lap. I ran it with a group that our coach, Kristen Witt, put us in – Taylor Phillips, Celia Freed and Megan Cauley. I was proud of us when we placed second place with a time of 5:03.05. This was also a big moment for me because last year, I didn’t get a season with COVID. During my freshman year, I was hesitant about trying out for the team at first, and we didn’t get much of a season because of the pandemic. [That’s why] when someone asks for advice about starting track, I just tell them not worry about it because once they start going to the practices, they will see that it's not as scary as people make it out to be.” – Betina Ivanova, 11

Betina Ivanova

Serpil Kucukkaya, CJ1 Writer • May 19, 2022

“I’ve been doing journalism for three years now. It all started in the eighth grade, [when] I got mail from [the] high school-a little pamphlet and a letter telling me that my English teacher had recommended me for the program. At that point, I didn’t have many electives I wanted to do, so I thought it would be good to try it out and see what I thought. I wound up involved in CJ1, and I loved it. I did like my first couple of stories, as bad as they were. It was fun writing about people that I knew and things that they're doing. I will say one tough thing that happened at the end of [last] year: I had to juggle two stories at once because COVID had messed with the whole schedule. I struggled a lot to learn how to draft and do everything online. I work a lot better in person. I like having [face-to-face] conversations. When we were online, Brinda, my section editor, took time out of her day to talk with me after school, work with me on stories, and help me with my sentence structure. She’s been one of the writers at the forefront of my mind when I talk about people who have inspired me. Her advice has pushed me to become an even better writer; I’ve even won two Best of SNO awards with some of her advice, which I'm happy about. [Earlier] this year, I wrote a story about gifted kid burnout. It affected a lot of my friends since they were a part of the gifted program. I could tell they’ve been struggling recently because of all the pressure put on them. I thought, ‘Okay, I want to write about this issue.’ It’s something that’s not raised all that often. So what I did was I got on [the computer] and started drafting, and I ended up loving it. When I posted it, I doubted I would win anything with the story, but I was happy because it was something I enjoyed writing. It ended up being my first Best of SNO, which I was really, really proud of. Winning [the award] was a goal for this year, to be able to get to this point. And I did it. It’s one of my favorite memories.” - Madi Michajliczenko, 11

Madi Michajliczenko

Anshu Chappidi, CJ1 Writer • May 18, 2022

“The greatest advice that I’ve received was, ‘Every step that's a failure is closer to success.’ This [advice] has helped [me] push past tough times such as depression and mental illness. I thought about it myself. When I started my investing company, I had many failures. My inspiration is Elon Musk. He spent millions, soon billions of dollars, trying to develop Space X, and when he did, he was almost bankrupt. So the quote comes from not giving up even when failure is on your way. It [has] allowed me to see things in a better shape.” — Steven Cheng, 9

Steven Cheng

Nola Becquette, CJ1 Writer • May 18, 2022

“The saddest moment of my life was when my great grandmother died. She lived in Texas, about 30 minutes away from my grandparents. We'd see her twice a year when we went to see my grandparents. She was in a nursing home a lot, but my great grandpa was not until recently. [While they were in the nursing home,] it was sad to see that they [couldn’t] do things that they used to be able to do by themselves. They needed all this help. We would go see them a lot, [and we would] spend time with [and] play board games with them. I [also] liked working on [my great grandpa’s] farm because he worked really hard and [is] kind of like a model [to me]. He was nice to everybody that he met, and I wanted to be like that.” —Jacob Burch, 9

Jacob Burch

Ava Silva, CJ1 Writer • May 17, 2022

“My favorite things to do outside of school are going on walks outside and watching Pokemon. I especially like going on walks with my twin sister Bridget. Me and my sister are two out of five kids. I also like to go to camp with my sister. We spend a lot of time outside there. I also like Pokemon. My favorite Pokemon is Jolteon. When I’m in school, my favorite class is science. I like learning about animals. My favorite animals are polar bears. I like going to see them at the zoo.” — Erin Berry, 12

Erin Berry

Serpil Kucukkaya, CJ1 Writer • May 17, 2022

“[The saddest moment of my life was] when I was 7. I had a friend [who] was like an older sister to me. She was 18 and in her second week of college when she got into a car accident and died. So it was different because it was a younger person and not someone older. In my experience, when I was little it was always [people I barely knew] that we went to funerals for, and then it was someone who was 18. [My biggest regret is] not spending enough time with the people [I care for] because I feel like there are a lot of people in my life that I don't see enough. When something happens [to them], I get stressed about not seeing them and what I would have done differently if I could see them more.” - Lily West, 9

Lily West

Ava Silva, CJ1 Writer • May 16, 2022

“The biggest influence in my life would have to be my mom. She’s very hardworking and gets things done for herself and others. My mom beat [breast] cancer. It showed me how strong she is and how she can push through [hard times]. [I remember] I had a lot going on in the eighth-grade year, and she helped me push through that and be the person I am now. [Without her] I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am now because she helped me be a better person.” — Alex Hurley, 9

Alex Hurley

Nola Becquette, CJ1 Writer • May 16, 2022

“The saddest moment in my life is when my father died five years ago. It didn't affect me personally. I guess I just miss him. He was [very] interesting and fun to talk to. I was very close to my dad. But around the time he died, I hadn't seen him [for] a few months. There are like a lot of stories of when [I] was a baby. [When] we went to public places, I would go [up] to random couples, and I would tell them all these random words like my alphabet. My dad would just sit back and watch me. I remember we would come home after and eat nasty bananas filled with jelly, and I hated it so much. Yes, I would say my dad keeps me going. He would be very upset right now if he saw my grades. He always wanted the best for me. I just kinda started focusing on myself once he died. I'm not doing good in school; there’s no point. I decided to start drawing. I can honestly say I just do it for fun now. But it eases my mind and distracts me from reality.” - Melanie Shearer, 9

Melanie Shearer

Kerra White, CJ1 Writer • May 13, 2022

“The saddest moment in my life was losing my great aunt. [On the] day of her death, I was at school, and then I went to my friend's house. I remember asking my dad for a sleepover. My dad's like, ‘you're not gonna want to have a sleepover tonight.’ And I was like, ‘oh no,’ and that's pretty much the moment I knew that she didn't make it, which was sad. It was hard for my family and me because we always went over there for holidays, her house was the house everyone went to for the family gatherings and holiday parties. It was hard because she died from COVID. It was really sad because none of my family knew how to act. It was just hard to comprehend. It still hasn't hit me.” — Lydia Moellering, 9

Lydia Moellering

Olivia Picaud, CJ1 Writer • May 13, 2022

“[The saddest moment of my life was] when [my dad] left for his deployment. I knew that I wouldn't be able to see him for at least a year. When he was [gone], I was sad all the time. It was the summer [I was] going into second grade, and he found out that he would be deployed [to Florida]. He went to Florida for seven months and 10 days. I only saw him three times, once for Christmas. It was hard because it was just my mom, brother and me. My brother was 4, so he didn't fully understand what was happening. He became very sensitive and developed anger issues because his mind was confused. It was hard to watch my brother be so mad, sad and angry all the time. It was also really hard to watch my mom try to keep it together and be there for my brother and [I]. There was still stuff that had to be done, but my dad wasn't there, so I had to step up and do it. In school, I was shy. I had friends, but I grew distant from them. It was hard to sit in school and learn. I didn't know when [my dad] was coming back, [but when he did], it surprised me, and I was extremely happy.” — Hannah Zaiser, 9

Hannah Zaiser

Ava Silva, CJ1 Writer • May 12, 2022

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