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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

“When I was in eighth grade, my grandma passed away. My grandma lived right next to me, and when she passed away, it was very strange to see someone else moving into [her] house. After she passed, my grades started dropping and I took her death very hard. I was very close to my grandma my whole life. As a child, I would go to her house and make chocolate chip cookies; which helped me bond with her. She showed me how important it is to donate and be active in the Church. My grandma helped me grow closer to God because she was very close with Him. She taught me how to be a better person.” - Juli Moellenhoff, 10

Juli Moellenhoff

Kate Roland, Staff Writer August 22, 2023

“My favorite place to be is my lake house because I grew up spending my summers there. I go there every summer with my friends and family. I've made a lot of friends that also have summer [lake] houses there. I have strong relationships with some of the friends I made there. I consider them my family. My favorite memories are going wakeboarding with all my friends there and spending the whole day on the lake,” - Casey Bowman, 10

Casey Bowman

Ruthvi Tadakamalla, Sports/Newsletter Editor August 21, 2023

“My proudest achievement is making the varsity baseball team as a sophomore. I was very proud of myself when I found out I made the team. Making varsity made me want to work harder to achieve my goals. Each year, I was excited to get after it and work hard. Throughout high school, I held a 4.0 GPA, which I am very proud of. I plan to attend Butler University in the fall; where I will continue my career as a student.” - Benjamin Seavey, 12

Ben Seavey

Kate Roland, CJ1 Writer June 1, 2023

“[My biggest challenge] is balancing school work, friends and family in high school. [When] you go to school, you learn a lot, you go home and you have so much homework so you have no time for family or friends. In life, you need a good balance of everything. When you have so much homework, it's really hard. Sometimes I don't get all my homework done and then there's consequences later. I’m still working on that. Usually, I go home and I try to take a break for a while. I'll talk with my family, go on my phone and have a snack. Then, I'll try [to] get some homework done. If I don't get all that done, I tell myself it's fine and I go to sleep because getting a lot of sleep is important.” - Samantha Doolittle, 9

Samantha Doolittle

Ruthvi Tadakamalla, Sports/Newsletter Editor May 31, 2023

“[Senior night] was electrifying, to say the least. I had a lot of fun playing [lacrosse] and the senior night ceremonies were amazing. All of my friends, family and teammates were supporting me, which was great. My favorite thing about lacrosse is all of my teammates. We all get along really well. My favorite moment was beating Kirkwood this year and celebrating by doing the “I Wanna Rock Dance.” Being friends with Ali Rehman is what got me into lacrosse and I am very grateful for that.” - Nadir Gheith

Nadir Gheith

Leyton Usry, CJ1 Writer May 30, 2023

“I spend a lot of my time volunteering at this shelter every Saturday, called Project Downtown. It’s located in Jennings, Missouri, and the poverty rates are pretty bad over there, so what we do is we make food for them and then distribute food boxes to people who need it in a parking lot. I started volunteering there when I was seven, and I have just stuck with it since. I usually volunteer with my friends, and it’s nice because it creates a fun environment with the people I know and the new people I get to meet. I started volunteering there because just seeing how different these people’s lifestyles are from mine, makes me want to take action and help them in any way I can.” - Rahma Salem, 11

Rahma Salem

Angie Ren, Staff Writer May 29, 2023

“My favorite hobby is volleyball. I’ve been playing since third grade, and I play for a club outside of school, and I also play for the school team. I love the supportive environment in volleyball, and everyone on the club team is my best friend, so volleyball is a way I get to see them almost every day. There was once when I sprained my ankle, and it took me out for a couple of weeks. It’s a bad feeling because you just have to sit on the sidelines and watch your teammates play, and sometimes your teammates will be losing and you can’t do anything to help them. I usually end up spraining my ankle at least once a season, though, so I’ve gotten used to it since almost everyone gets hurt at least once a season. What keeps me motivated in volleyball is not wanting to let my teammates down. I know some of them want to play volleyball in college, and so I always want to play my best to give them the best games and not take away any of their opportunities.” - Abby Vogelgesang, 11

Abby Vogelgesang

Angie Ren, Staff Writer May 26, 2023

“Boys Scouts is a big part of my life, and I’ve been doing it since sixth grade. In Boy Scouts, we have weekly meetings, and we learn a lot about survival skills and leadership training. I first joined because I like nature in general, and it's peaceful because of the solitude it brings. My dad is also pretty involved in Boys Scouts too, so he inspired me to join in the first place. My favorite part about Boys Scouts is when we travel out of the state and country for different adventures. We’ve traveled to Philadelphia, places on the east coast, and we’ve even backpacked 100 miles in New Mexico. It can be really fun, but there are also some mental challenges because even though hiking and backpacking are fun, it can be really hard to get myself motivated enough to actually do it, but at the end of the day, I want to achieve these things Boys Scouts brings to me, so I always work my hardest to.” - Chris Gray, 11

Chris Gray

Angie Ren, Staff Writer May 25, 2023

“Dance is a big part of my life, and it has been since I was three years old. It’s not only really fun, but my closest friends dance with me at my studio, so It’s great getting to see them every day. A specific time I was really proud of myself in dance was when I completed my first solo in sixth grade. I felt proud that I was able to perform in front of such a big crowd, and I actually ended up doing pretty well for my first time competing. A challenging part about dance is when I can’t get a skill, and I don’t know the reason why I can’t. It can be really frustrating since all you want to do is be able to improve in the sport you do. I overcome this by just moving on to a different skill for a while to take a break, and eventually, I’ll come back to the previous skill and work on it for a while again. I love dancing, however, I don’t see myself pursuing it in the future just because it is so time-consuming, and dancing in college can be a big commitment.” - Paige Schnarr, 11

Paige Schnarr

Angie Ren, Staff Writer May 24, 2023

“Something I’m proud of is how much weight I have lost, and the amount of muscle I have gained back. At the start of quarantine, I was around 220 pounds, and I just wasn’t satisfied with how I looked. I felt pretty pressured by social media influencers, and that’s something that motivated me to want to change my lifestyle. At first, I would just play video games all day, and I was losing weight in an unhealthy way, but one day my friends started going to the gym, and I just thought it was finally time to change. Now, I’ve been going to the gym for almost two years, and I have lost around 60 pounds. I try to go almost every day because it’s just a part of my daily routine now, and it’s something that makes me happy. I also feel proud to see how much improvement I have made, but I’m still not satisfied with how I look yet. I want to be able to compete in the future with weightlifting, and I’m hoping to gain even more muscle than I have now.” - Michael Tigue, 11

Michael Tigue

Angie Ren, Staff Writer May 23, 2023