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 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

I’m passionate about doing well in school. I think that as a freshman it’s important to start on the right foot in high school since it can affect how you do later in the year. A lot of people say freshman year doesn’t matter, but I still want to do the best I can on all of my tests and homework so that I can get the grades that I want. Doing well can also give me a cushion for next year and the years after that, and if I do well it can make college cheaper with scholarships. I hold high expectations of myself, and it stresses me out and I get frustrated knowing that I could have done better.” - Camden Wilford, 9

Camden Wilford

Angie Ren, Staff Writer • May 19, 2023

One of my biggest accomplishments is winning all districts and second, all-conference in the top suburban conference of Missouri. No freshman in Missouri won my conference, so I’m really proud because all of my hard work paid off. I’ve been playing basketball for my whole life, and so did my mom and my grandma, so it sort of runs in the family to play basketball in high school and college. My coach is my biggest inspiration because he’s always cheering me and motivating me on the court. He’s probably my number-one fan. I can see myself playing for the rest of high school and it’s also my dream to play basketball in college.” - Ava Albanese, 9

Ava Albanese

Angie Ren, Staff Writer • May 18, 2023

“I really enjoy playing soccer and I want to go far with it. It's hard especially during my fall season because I was playing softball through school and club soccer for three teams. It was a challenge because a lot of weekends I was going out on tournaments, then coming back was really hard with the lack of rest and everything. I really want to go far and I want to go to college and play a sport in college. I know the next step is playing in high school and then playing in college and then just continuing on. You need to make sure that you're living life to the fullest. A lot of my challenges in sports are injury based and those are the hardest. You have so many people telling you that you shouldn't play because you should want to heal before you do. But the hardest times in my life are when I'm injured. When I can't play and then I feel like I'm letting down my team. But you have to take that step back though and realize if anyone else was in that situation you wouldn’t want them to possibly hurt themselves just to keep playing. You would want them to take care of themselves and get better.” - Stephanie Fussner, 9

Stephanie Fussner

Amelia Bothmann, CJ1 Writer • May 16, 2023

“[Baking] is a stress reliever, and it's something I do in any mood. It’s a way I express my love because I bake cookies for people I care about and always get excited when they try a new recipe. I bake oatmeal cookies for the healthier people in my family or chocolate chip cookies. I even bake brownies sometimes. I love getting different types of chocolates. I usually get the Tonys chocolate from Whole Foods, and I cut them up. I like experimenting with new recipes. I always love trying new recipes. I'm open to anything. It took me over four years of trying to make perfect cookies. [I would tell other people] to never give up, always try new things, experiment and have fun.” - Gracie Mcleod, 9

Gracie McLeod

Ruthvi Tadakamalla, Sports/Newsletter Editor • May 4, 2023

"There’s this nonprofit called the assistance league that my grandma volunteers at where she runs the book department area. My grandma could always use help and my grandpa is sometimes there too so I will go up there and help out sorting books or labeling so I get to spend some time with them and help out kids in need. I don't get to go to the school so I’m not able to see their reactions directly, but I hear a bunch of things about how they love the books and new clothing they received. Knowing how much they appreciate what we do makes me feel really good because I feel like what we do for them hugely impacts and shapes their future.” - Elena Potsou, 9

Elena Potsou

Katherine Tovrea, CJ1 Writer • May 3, 2023

“I was looking forward to my freshman year since this is my favorite sport and I was [just coming back from being] out for two weeks because of a stress fracture on my foot. During practice my arm started to hurt to the point where the coach started to notice so I started to take it easy a bit. A few days later I had a freshman game and during warm up I was throwing the ball and my elbow dropped and broke so I had to get surgery. I’m upset because I have worked hard to get to this point and now I won’t be able to play for all of the West season and probably summer ball. It’s been really helpful having my team support me while I still go and support them. It just really sucks because I feel like I would be playing my position [often], but now I'm not playing at all so it's just all over now.” - Ethan Brookshire, 9

Ethan Brookshire

Katherine Tovrea, CJ1 Writer • May 2, 2023

“[My biggest challenge is] making friends because I’m not from here [and] I’m not very social. I’m from Portugal. I came here five years ago. I couldn’t understand anything because the language was different. I had to learn English. [My biggest inspiration for soccer] is Christiano Ronaldo. [Because we’re both from Portugal], I feel like I’m sharing an experience with him.” - Miguel Gomes Goncalves, 9

Miguel Gomes Goncalves

Ruthvi Tadakamalla, Sports/Newsletter Editor • May 1, 2023

“Tryout week was nerve-racking, because going into lacrosse I didn't really know anyone and I was worried everyone would already know each other so I was worried I would get judged. I felt kind of uncomfortable at first but then after the first week I realized everyone was really welcoming and nice. I also got to know lots of people since they do all these things to make sure you get to know everyone; like the lock in. I became friends with people on the team so quickly that I think it helps us bond and play better on the field together.” - Kate McCammon, 9

Kate McCammon

Nora Fussner, CJ1 Writer • April 26, 2023

“After I had surgery on my ACL, I was told the recovery process was going to be eight months to a year. That meant I wasn't going to be able to play soccer for a while. When high school season was coming up, my doctor said I could try out. But my doctor also said that he wouldn't recommend it, because if I wasn't 100% ready I could get hurt and then be out another year. Once high school season started it was harder to accept that I couldn't play because I would see everyone playing or talking about it. But the coaches definitely supported me when I told them about my injury and helped me not feel as stressed out or disclosed from everything. When talking to the coaches they mentioned that I could be the team manager, but I decided not to because I want to get back quickly and being a manager would take up recovery time. Now that I’m starting to play soccer again I’ve noticed I am playing a lot more timid now because I don’t want to repeat my injury. But my injury has also made me more aware of my surroundings when I am playing.” - Hannah Hampton, 9

Hannah Hampton

Nora Fussner, CJ1 Writer • April 25, 2023

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