#when i first created her she was an 18 year old captain of a volleyball team who would cry in the bathroom if she lost and that was

[shougancid]

Mari's gaze is quite uninterested and cold, by virtue of the resting bitch face and her eyes, but when she looks at someone or something she likes or is passionate about? She just has this oxymoronic look that's both soft and intense.

[kbox-in-the-box]

Captain Zap and her Hyperspace Rangers

1988 was the year that the planet Aetheria was liberated at last from the mad Emperor Xerxes, but it was neither the great space hero, Samuel Gerald “Astro” Armstrong, nor his daughter, Samantha Gillespie “Astra” Armstrong, who struck the final, decisive blow.

From 1933 to 1938, Astro Armstrong, Hedy Fine and Dr. Leon Volkov fought for the freedom of the people of Aetheria against the tyranny of Xerxes and his daughter, the wicked Empress Eris.

But in 1959, Astro Armstrong went missing, and in 1966, Astra Armstrong and her mother, Prof. Hedy Feynman, returned to Aetheria after Dr. Leon Volkov’s son, Dr. Leonid Volkov, told them that Astro was still alive, on Aetheria, but captive in the clutches of Xerxes.

As Astro’s family and allies sought to find him again, all while resuming their war with the forces of Xerxes and Eris, they found themselves facing a new foe, the first human ever to join the dark side of the Aetherian Armada, a mysterious masked man known only as Kommissar Blitzkrieg, who somehow seemed capable of anticipating Astra and Hedy at every turn.

By the 1980s, Hedy had begun to suspect the terrible secret of Kommissar Blitzkrieg’s true identity, one that could never be revealed to Astra, which the ruthlessly clinical Prof. Feynman recognized would necessitate the enlistment (or more accurately, the compulsory impressment) of new allies into their struggle, young outsiders with new ways of thinking, whose strengths would draw from their lack of preexisting emotional connections to this star-spanning conflict.

In 1984, the “Hyperspace Pilot” video game had cabinets distributed to the Bits & Blasts Arcade near the edge of the Ned Pines Neighborhood, the Pink Flamingos Mobile Home & RV Park on the outskirts of Eliot’s Expanse, and the Cabaret Cinema in the core of Edwin A. Abbott Square.

Opening in 1922, the Cabaret Cinema remains the oldest continuously operating movie theater in the state of Calizona, its infrequent stints as a Union Gospel Mission location notwithstanding.

The Cabaret Cinema was where a young Valerie Gail Zappa watched nostalgic rescreenings of Saturday matinee serials such as “The Adventures of ‘Astro’ Armstrong," and by the summer of 1984, Val was not only 18 years old and freshly graduated from Stanford S. Strickland Junior High & High School (go Teen Wolves!), but she was also a veteran usher at the Cabaret, where she took in countless classic films for free, and racked up high scores on “Hyperspace Pilot.”

Val and her two-years-younger sister, Tara Moonchild Zappa, lived at their parents’ double-wide at the Pink Flamingos, but like their fellow Pink Flamingos resident Crystal Swan, who was still attending Strickland Junior High in 1984, all three girls were pretty much raising themselves.

Tara had aspirations of enrolling in Beauty’s Beholder Cosmetics & Cosmetology, so she could eventually work at Nagel’s Picture-Perfect Cuts & Colors in the Gold Key Commercial Core.

And while Val’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, Buckminster “Bucky” Martínez, was still sorting through prospective career paths, he’d already earned an athletic scholarship, as a soccer and volleyball player, through Coral Shores Community College (go Atoms!), part of the Calizona Community College Athletic Conference and the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Even Morten Emory Thistlethwaite, the spoiled antisocial prodigy whom Val grudgingly agreed to babysit when she was in junior high, because he was three years her junior, was already on track to attend the University of Calizona, Santa Teresa (go Manticores!), with the Quatermass University of Abstract and Applied Sciences (go Tachyons!) as his designated fallback school.

And yet, Val herself simply drifted, never pursuing a post-secondary education or a long-term occupation beyond what was required to pay for the rent and fun nights out on the town during her weekends off, much to the dismay of her peers and former teachers, all of whom sensed far more potential in her than punching ticket stubs at the Cabaret Cinema, subbing in to lead group workouts at Aphrodite & Adonis Aerobics, or feeding quarters into “Hyperspace Pilot” cabinets.

By 1987, the band of Valerie and Tara Zappa, Bucky Martínez and Morten Thistlethwaite knew they had little enough left in common to wonder aloud why they were still hanging out, but they knew the answer to that as well, since not only had they all remained avid players of “Hyperspace Pilot,” but they’d taken up the next iteration in the franchise, i.e. the “Hyperspace Pistoleer” light-tagging toy guns released in 1986, for which Bits & Blasts had economized its existing space, and even leased adjacent property, to set up a hide-and-seek arena for — among other players — Captain Zap, Brigadier Buckyball, Lieutenant Luna and Master Sergeant Mars, as they preferred to be called on the game clock.

And by the summer of 1987, the band had reasons to celebrate, with Morten’s acceptance for UC Santa Teresa’s fall semester confirmed, Tara feeling confident she would finally be promoted from apprentice to junior stylist at Nagel’s Picture-Perfect Cuts & Colors, and even Bucky finally having settled on a major, after three years, at Coral Shores Community College.

Everyone was heading places, except for Val, who’d always dreamed of travel, but never had the free time or finances to spare, just as her ongoing consumption of classic cinema ensured her lock on the pink-for-entertainment slice of the pie any time she played Trivial Pursuit, and yet, for all her fascination with the film industry, she still couldn’t summon the patience to audition, or even sit still for test shots, for more than sporadic roles as an extra.

“Why does this feel like the end of that made-for-TV movie where roleplaying games drove Tom Hanks crazy?” Tara asked despondently, as the band sat at their regular table in Bits & Blasts, nursing their slices of Pizzazz Pizza.

“You know why,” Val smirked ruefully. “Everyone else is about to embark on grand adventures in bold new campaign settings, while some of us are just destined to ... hang back from the action, and become non-player characters.”

“It doesn’t have to be like this,” Bucky clasped Val’s hand in his own to console her.

“I heard Lis Berger is shutting down the Hyperspace Pistoleer arena after this summer,” Morten blurted out, acutely uncomfortable with the unpleasant emotions his peers were displaying so openly. “Even though it’s still popular, she’s losing a ton of money on it. I say we play one last round now, before it gets torn down.”

Val stood up and laid down a few dollars for the tip. “Might as well go out shooting,” she grinned.

The entry of every officially licensed “Hyperspace Pistoleer” arena was equipped with speakers to play the same opening narration before the players went inside, complete with a flash of light to simulate an interplanetary tesseract:

“As the people of the planet Aetheria cry out for aid, in their fight for freedom against the evil forces of the mad Emperor Xerxes and his Aetherian Armada, a highly trained special mission force has been recruited from the ranks of ordinary humans, right here on Earth, to respond to this call. They are the Hyperspace Rangers, and their brave battles began when they stepped into the Star Point Portal ... and vanished.”

After the obligatory flash of light, Lis Berger’s assistant games supervisor, Rachelle “Ratchet” Chennault, checked the activated “Hyperspace Pistoleer” arena, only to find it empty.

The “Strickland Slackers,” as they came to be branded in subsequent press reports, were gone.

Hedy Feynman knew she had a limited window of time within which to work, because time itself passes on Aetheria at roughly one-seventh the rate that it does on Earth, and because she knew the start of the Harmonic Convergence would commence on Aug. 16, 1987, but even she had failed to grasp how quickly most toy and video game franchises fall out of fashion.

Hedy had commissioned the younger Dr. Leonid Volkov to produce the “Hyperspace Pilot” and “Hyperspace Pistoleer” game lines, as covert training and recruitment tools for what she had envisioned as crack commando units to be branded the “Hyperspace Rangers,” since they would be able to operate not only behind enemy lines, but also between the boundaries that defined both the war and space travel itself.

Because Hedy wished to avoid drawing too much notice, and because she’d retained enough of her conscience not to want to press-gang too many child soldiers into risking life and limb for a cause for which none of them had knowingly consented to sacrifice themselves, the Star Point Portals affixed to the “Hyperspace Pistoleer” arenas absconded with only scattered handfuls of players from her former home planet.

The sustained toll of their secret missions was brutal, culling all but a few of the promising crop Hedy had authorized to transport from Earth during the summer of 1987, but one unlikely band of Hyperspace Rangers somehow not only kept on surviving, but also succeeding in completing their missions, thanks in no small part to the guidance and motivation they drew from the canny strategies and inspiring speeches of their Valkyrie-like leader.

Eventually, the rest of the units were reduced in number enough that their remainders were seconded to Captain Zap and her Hyperspace Rangers.

During the final push to overthrow the misrule of Xerxes, when Astra Armstrong was devastated by the discovery that the merciless Kommissar Blitzkrieg was actually her long-lost father, Astro Armstrong — whose innate heroism had been artificially suppressed by technology the elder Dr. Leon Volkov had been conscripted to create for Xerxes — it was Captain Zap’s Hyperspace Rangers who kept up the pressure on the Aetherian Armada, giving Astra the chance to break through those psychic barriers to reach her real father’s heart, and ultimately redeem his soul.

... And so it was that 1988 was the year that the planet Aetheria was liberated at last from the mad Emperor Xerxes, not by two generations of the same heroic family, but by a third generation of complete strangers to their cause, and yet, even as the rest of the surviving Hyperspace Rangers were returned to Earth per their request, one band asked to stay behind.

Captain Zap, Brigadier Buckyball, Lieutenant Luna and Master Sergeant Mars each had their own reasons for wanting to venture further into the largely uncharted frontier within which they’d found themselves, but Hedy Feynman, as newly elected head of the likewise recently installed government of Aetheria, harbored equally ulterior motives for agreeing to retain their services.

Hedy knew that a tentatively democratic Aetheria, one which was now seeking to atone for the misdeeds of its empire by forging alliances among adversaries, needed free agents to act on its behalf, to make contact with the broader cosmos that Xerxes’ simultaneously expansive and provincial priorities had impacted, and yet also ignored.

Hedy also knew that Astra’s appetite for such crusades had been ground down hard over the course of the war, even before she’d inadvertently unmasked one of her fiercest foes as the vanished father whose legacy she’d sought to live up to her entire life, and for the first time since 1966, Astra found herself missing the old home planet she’d abandoned so casually.

Which was how Astra Armstrong woke up late one morning to the fanfare surrounding the hastily rescheduled launch of the Moebius Loop-powered Cavalry Cruiser-class Unification Searcher Spacecraft (USS) Starlin, the ship she’d simply assumed she would be tasked with commanding, because it had already taken off with its new crew, Captain Zap and her Hyperspace Rangers, without Hedy telling her.

Astra had resigned herself to the likelihood that she would be assigned to provide Captain Zap’s Hyperspace Rangers with essential insights on the various alien species, civilizations and cultures they might encounter, but Hedy had instead sentenced the former Empress Eris to serve as a Hyperspace Ranger, under the command of Captain Zap, as Ensign Eleutherios (”Eleutherios” being the birth name that Eris had always hated), as repayment for her sins.

And with a capable crew protecting the peace in her stead, Astra couldn’t help but smile when Hedy presented her with the Reckless Endeavor, the spaceship with which Astra’s parents and the elder Dr. Volkov had originally traveled to Aetheria, now freshly restored and ready to fly wherever Astra wished.

“First, I’m gonna take a long nap, and then, I’m gonna spend some time doing nothing at all, because I’ve been meaning to do both of those for years,” Astra laughed, even as tears spilled down her cheeks. “After that ... when we left Earth, I was so ready for something so much bigger. The only other gals I knew who wore pants were you, Katherine Hepburn and Laura Petrie on Dick Van Dyke. So much happened, just right after I left.” She chuckled. “It’s like Earth waited until I was gone to get cool.”

“And now?” Hedy brushed the blonde spit-curl from her daughter’s face. “You want to catch up?”

“I want ...” Astra paused, then unclipped the Walkman from her belt loop, that she’d carried to honor all the fallen Hyperspace Rangers, more than one of whom had worn such portable music players into the fray of combat.

Astra cranked the volume on the headphones up to the max, then pressed play, and the voice of Stevie Nicks began to croon:

♫ No one knows how I feel ♪ ♪ What I say, unless you read between my lines ♫ ♫ One man walked away from me ♪ ♪ First he took my hand ♫ ♫ Take me home ... ♪

“I want to go where the music sounds like THAT,” Astra’s voice choked up, as her eyes welled up with fresh unshed tears.

Hedy struggled to keep the quaver out of her own voice, as she squeezed her daughter tight to wish her safe travels. “Then you go there, baby. You go follow the music that’s in your heart.”

[oselatra]

2019 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team

Meet the best and brightest high school seniors in the state.

The 2019 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team, the 25th team the Times has honored, is made up of coders, musicians, scientists and championship athletes. There's rarely a B on the transcripts of these students in not just this, their senior year, but in any year of their high school careers.

Back in 1995, the Times created the Academic All-Star Team to spotlight what we then called "the silent majority — the kids who go to school, do their homework (most of it, anyway), graduate and go on to be contributing members of society." Too often, we argued then, all Arkansans heard about young people was how poorly they were faring. Or, when students did get positive attention, it came for athletic achievement.

As you read profiles of this year's All-Stars, it should be abundantly clear that good things are happening in Arkansas schools and there are many academic achievers who deserve to be celebrated. You should get a good idea, too, of how these stellar students are busy outside school, with extracurricular activities, volunteer work, mission activities and more.

They'll be honored April 26 at a ceremony at UA Little Rock's new River Market campus with plaques and cash awards.

Many college plans listed here are not set in stone, as students await information on scholarships and acceptances.

MOHAMMED ABUELEM Age: 16 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Pulaski Academy Parents: Tarek Abuelem and Shireen Khalaf College plans: Harvard University

What accomplishments can a 16-year-old lay claim to? Mohammed Abuelem has earned prizes in competitions in science, essay writing, History Day projects, Spanish, math. He's studied DNA sequencing at Harvard; researched the effect of radiation on soybeans; aced all his classes at Pulaski Academy. But this teenager, two years younger than his classmates and fluent in Arabic, can also point to work with Syrian refugees in camps in Jordan for two summers running. After his sophomore year, Mohammed volunteered at the Zaatari refugee camp in the northern part of Jordan, where 60,000 people have taken refuge. There, he interviewed families and visited the medical clinics. He listened "to their stories and how their life is at the camp. ... I got the chance to see how medicine is practiced toward people who are part of a diaspora." He returned to Jordan after his junior year and distributed food and supplies to Syrian refugee families in the capital, Amman. "So many of the refugees are relocated toward urban areas, and don't get as many benefits" as those in the camps, Mohammed said. Mohammed decided to bring the lessons of the crisis home: "I wanted to involve local people here." So, he organized a benefit piano recital where he and others played (he performed a piece by the Greek composer Yanni) and raised $5,000 from the audience. Half the sum went to the Syrian Emergency Task Force and the other half to his Boy Scout Eagle project, building first-aid and hygiene kits for Syrian refugees. Because the Middle East is his passion, his senior thesis (in an elective class at Pulaski Academy) is on the Arab Spring and, because he is fluent, he was able to use primary sources in Arabic. As he heads to college, Mohammed is unsure of exactly where he'll put his considerable brain power to work. Though keen on many subjects, Mohammed's favorite is biology. His father, a neurosurgeon at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary, "has emphasized that he wants me to choose the right path for me," rather than mirror his father's career, Mohammed said.

CHLOE BOWEN Age: 18 Hometown: Fayetteville High School: Springdale High School Parents: Yancey and Ginger Bowen College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville or University of Alabama

The last thing most high school students want to do just a few weeks before the start of their senior year is switch schools. For Chloe Bowen, though, the decision to transfer from Fayetteville High School, where she'd gone since ninth grade, to Springdale High School for her final year wasn't particularly difficult. Many of her friends had already graduated, and Chloe's burgeoning interest in engineering drew her to Springdale High's Engineering and Architecture Academy. "I was ready for a change — [a] new challenge," she said. She's certainly found it. Chloe signed up for four engineering classes, one of which has her working with a group of engineering students from the University of Arkansas to design a device that will allow one of Chloe's classmates, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, to walk across the stage at graduation. "Getting to collaborate with them has been a really great experience," she said. Chloe traces her interest in engineering to a human geography class she took in ninth grade, where she learned about urban development and city planning. She's not sure what type of engineering she'll settle on — for now, it's all about exploration and learning about a career that will draw on both her math-loving analytical side and her artistic interests. Chloe has flourished in Springdale's engineering and architecture academy. She's a National Merit Finalist, ranked first in her class with a 4.27 GPA, and she's developed a tight-knit group of new friends who share her interests. She recently helped run a STEM day for younger students and has represented the engineering and architecture academy at area junior highs.

Chloe is also active in her church youth group and has a part-time job working in another church's nursery. That doesn't leave much time for other hobbies. "I used to play volleyball, but I don't anymore," she said. "I've been pretty busy with homework and projects lately."

JORDAN ERICKSON Age: 18 Hometown: Hot Springs High School: Lake Hamilton High School Parent: Mandy Farmer College plans: Baylor University

Jordan Erickson is the big man on Lake Hamilton High School's campus. He's the class president, the valedictorian and a National Merit Semifinalist. He's also 6-foot-10 and was the captain of the basketball team, which went 25-3 and won its conference. "It meant a lot [to be captain] because I'd been playing basketball with these guys since fifth grade," Jordan said. While this season marks the end of his basketball career, look for him in pick-up games at Baylor University, where he'll be a University Scholar, a competitive program that generally accepts fewer than 2 percent of incoming Baylor students. The Scholars program will allow him to pursue an individualized course of study. Jordan is planning on studying one area in science, likely biology, and one in the humanities, likely Spanish. He plans to be a doctor and figures that knowing Spanish could be beneficial. He doesn't know what sort of doctor he wants to be, but has gotten some experience working with seniors with neurodegenerative diseases as a volunteer with The Caring Place, a day center for patients suffering from Alzheimer's and dementia. "The people there were just absolutely loving and caring, the staff as well as the patients," he said. "It was heartwarming and heartbreaking as well." Jordan's mom, Mandy Farmer, is a nurse practitioner. He resisted following in her footsteps for years, he said, but as he's gotten older he's realized what an inspiration she's been. She instilled in him a motto that he's obviously applied: "There is no penalty for overachievement."

KATE FREYALDENHOVEN  Age: 18 Hometown: Conway High School: Conway High School Parents: Tim and Mary Ann Freyaldenhoven College plans: Rhodes College in Memphis

Kate Freyaldenhoven is competitive. Ranked second in her class at Conway High School, she said she was driven to "achieve the highest grades" in all her courses by the same ambition that earned her spots on the school's varsity cross-country and track teams. She has a 4.42 grade point average, and she said it's this "kind of tenacity" that earned her the perfect score of a 36 on the ACT. After two attempts that earned her a 33 and a 34, Kate said, "I pushed myself to do the best that I can do, and I'm very glad that I took it again." She's taking this tenacity to Rhodes College in Memphis, where she recently signed to run on its cross-country and track and field team. Kate said she decided on Rhodes because she knew she wanted to run in college, but her education was most important, and she wanted to go to a school that "was great with balancing academics and athletics." She said Rhodes felt like a "great fit" for her, and she'll be able to grow "not only as a student, but as an athlete." Another crucial part of her decision to attend Rhodes is the "plethora" of community service organizations the school offers. Kate said that as a kid, her mother took her along when doing service work for nonprofits, and since then, volunteering has been "a really big part of my life." Two summers ago, Kate also participated in the Community Health Applied in Medical Public Service program at Conway Regional Hospital, where she "witnessed firsthand different aspects of working in the medical field." She said she's interested in pursuing a medical career, perhaps as a physician, so she can use her "passion for science and math to contribute something beneficial." Kate said she's looking forward to research and internship opportunities in Memphis and to the "close-knit community" she said she felt on Rhodes' campus.

MARY JIA Age: 17 Hometown: Stuttgart High School: Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts Parents: Melissa and Yulin Jia College plans: Undecided

Mary Jia knows what she wants to do, and what she wants to do is study rice. "Rice is so amazing!" she said, with an enthusiasm so genuine she'll make you excited about rice, too. She said it's a model genome to study in plant science, and she's particularly interested in the "biological sciences and the numerology behind rice." Mary has applied to 16 different schools, but her top choice is the California Institute of Technology, where her favorite physicist, Sean M. Carroll, works as a professor. She said she plans on studying rice by pursuing an M.D.-Ph.D., a combined doctorate of medicine and philosophy, which can take between seven and nine years to complete. "With an M.D., you learn a little bit of everything, which is basically my goal in life," Mary said. "And a Ph.D. is more specific." Mary's research at the Harry K. Dupree Stuttgart National Aquaculture Research Center earned her a semifinalist spot in the Regeneron Science Talent Search. She's the only finalist from Arkansas. Her project studied the blast disease resistance of three strains of rice, a process through which Mary said she hopes to find "resistance genes" to help keep farmers from having to use fungicides on their rice crops. During a recent trip to visit family in China, Mary was able to appreciate the opportunities she's had to study her passion. "I really want my family to one day be able to enjoy the same things that I do, to go out in the world and realize they can be whatever they want," she said. Ranked No. 1 in her class at Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, Mary is also a member of the school's Grandma Club, which teaches "relaxing" skills such as knitting — Mary's specialty — and origami to the "future grandmas of America."

ISABELLE FLORENCE JONES Age: 18 Hometown: Jonesboro High School: The Academies at Jonesboro High School Parents: Robert and Mary Kay Jones College plans: Boston College

Isabelle Jones has been called "Dizzy Izzy" since she was a little girl, thanks to the energy she displayed in trying to keep up with her two big sisters. But Izzy, as she likes to be called, could also be called "Busy Izzy" because of the many school leadership positions she holds — student council president, National Honor Society treasurer, Spanish Honor Society president, to name a few — and other academic honors. She's No. 1 in her class. She swims, she runs cross-country. She volunteers at St. Bernards Hospital and the Hispanic Center. She's known, she said, as "that liberal person" at school because of her progressive views on gun control. Izzy said the most significant achievement of her high school career was organizing, as head of the local Students Demand Action chapter, the March for Our Lives last year. Calling "Show me what democracy looks like!" into her bullhorn, Izzy and other organizers led 200 people from Jonesboro High to the courthouse. The speakers included a survivor of Jonesboro's Westside Middle School shooting in 1998, in which two boys shot and killed five people and injured 10 others. Izzy spoke, too, about those who would shift the conversation away from guns and onto mental illness. "I spoke to the fact that someone who suffers from mental illness is more likely to be a victim" of gun violence than to cause it, she said. "People use it as a scapegoat." Because the Students Demand Action members were too young to get a permit for the march, the local Moms Demand Action helped out. "The Moms were so amazing; they let us take control of what we wanted to say," Izzy said. If you are an activist in a "big city," Izzy said, you can "talk to your elected officials and not get the door shut in your face. Here, to talk about gun control, it's a nonstarter, because people think it means you're going to take their guns away." So, Izzy's group focuses on having a community presence, participating in fairs and writing letters. Izzy is ready for big-city life and wants to pursue studies in global health, which is why she applied early decision to Boston College, which plans to offer a major in the field. Boston College has offered Izzy a Gabelli Presidential Scholars scholarship, which is a full-tuition award and goes to only 15 incoming freshmen every year. After college, the plan is med school and, someday, travel to help people in need of medical care with Doctors Without Borders.

JEREMIA LO Age: 18 Hometown: Fayetteville High School: Fayetteville High School Parents: Hsiaowen Cho and Wenjuo Lo College plans: Undecided

Jeremia Lo found her high school niche with Connotations, Fayetteville High School's annual literary magazine, where she serves as design director. When she joined the staff as a junior, she discovered a community of people who enjoy writing, art and photography as much as she does. Digital art has been a passion ever since her dad installed Adobe Photoshop on the family's computer when she was 10 years old. "Years of practice — setting aside time on the weekends to do photostudies and learn color theory — eventually turned jagged lines and irregular proportions into realistic portrayals of faces and creatures," Jeremia wrote in her Academic All-Stars essay. "Via the versatility of digital art — a medium that easily allows me to dabble in design, animation and drawing — I've been able to practice my communication skills by analyzing how details and the big picture work together to convey meaning to viewers." In the short run, thanks to those skills, she's made some spending money doing commissioned portraits and seen the designs for clubs and classes that show up all over the school. Longer term, she's considering a career in UI/UX (user interface/experience) design. To that end, she's planning on majoring in cognitive science or psychology to help her think about how people process design. But art isn't her only passion. While maintaining a 4.37 GPA and a No. 1 rank in her senior class of more than 500 students, she also found time to serve as publicist for the World Language Club and to co-found the Fayetteville High School History Club, realizing "that there are many important events in history that are often overlooked in our curriculum." She grew up in a Mandarin-speaking family, has taken five years of German and is studying Japanese on her own. Spanish, French and Korean are on her to-learn list.

TYLER MERREIGHN Age: 17 Hometown: Greenwood High school: Greenwood High School Parents: Ty and Josie Merreighn College plans: Undecided

When Tyler Merreighn auditioned for "Jeopardy!" last summer, he was coming in with over seven years of trivia experience: He's been on a Quiz Bowl team since he was in third grade. He's now captain of Greenwood High School's team, and in 2018 he led it to a second-place finish at the 6A Arkansas Governor's Quiz Bowl Association. While he didn't make the final cut for the game show, he said he would definitely try out again, and next time he'll be "a little more prepared." He'll have to find time to do that while majoring in biomedical engineering on a pre-med path. He hopes to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where he's applied for the prestigious Bodenhamer Fellowship, which awards a select group of students $70,000 scholarships over the course of their education. During an educational trip to Peru with his high school in the summer of 2017, Tyler said he visited a community in Cusco and loved "seeing [the children's] faces light up when you could do something so simple for them," like playing a game of soccer. This experience helped him realize that "whatever I do, I definitely want to be able to help people." Last summer he attended the two-week Medical Applications for Science and Health program at Baptist Health in Fort Smith. MASH requires participants to complete 40 hours a week of shadowing in a hospital. Tyler said the experience affirmed his desire to become a physician, as he "really loved the atmosphere of the hospital." He took the ACT seven times in order to get a perfect score because "I just felt like I could do it, and if I didn't get [a perfect score], then I just felt like I was letting myself down."

KENDON MOLINE Age: 17 Hometown: Conway High School: Conway High School Parents: Rebekkah and Corey Moline College plans: Brigham Young University

Kendon Moline said he has always liked learning how things are built, and as a child, he once spent an entire afternoon watching his neighbors get a new roof installed. A self-described "musician, math nerd, bowler and engineer," he's now third in his class at Conway High School and plans to attend Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, in the fall to study civil engineering. He's particularly interested in transportation planning, so civil engineering "falls right in line" with that passion. Kendon is so interested in engineering that he received the top possible score on his AP Physics C exam — a class his high school doesn't even offer. While he said he's "not the best at studying," he put in "a lot of effort" for the test because "if it's something you're passionate about, you'll commit to it." Kendon is also committed to his faith, as he'll only be attending BYU for a semester before he leaves to take part in his two-year mission as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He's looking forward to his mission, during which he'll be able to "share my beliefs, the Gospel, to help others and to grow." While many young men begin their missions immediately after high school, his parents encouraged him to do a semester of school first in order to "get out of the house and be more independent," so he's not "too shocked" when he does venture out on his own. He said he plans on returning to school after his mission. Kendon also plays the trombone in his school's marching band, bowls for the school team and is working toward earning his Eagle Scout badge.

ANNA OPPENHEIM Age: 18 Hometown: Jonesboro High School: Bay High School Parents: Tim and Lisa Oppenheim College plans: Columbia University

A conscientious leader, Anna Oppenheim uses her voice to make fellow Bay High School students heard. Her community-driven work ethic has come through in her service as student council president and senior class president. She's also used her voice as editor of the school newspaper to connect students and tell their unique stories, such as the feature she wrote about an eighth-grade boy who rescued his family — including his young siblings and stepmother, who had a broken leg — from their burning house. As a learner, Anna has always been interested in taking things apart and reassembling them. As a child, she was fascinated with the human skeleton and memorized every bone. "I know that sounds weird," she said. But her natural aptitude for science and medicine blossomed at an orthopedic surgery program through the Perry Initiative for women in medicine, where she performed a mock orthopedic surgery. After being handed a bone model, a bone saw and a few screws and rods, she was told to break the bone model, then figure out how to put it back together. Anna credits her success in that orthopedic exercise to her background in art, explaining that her artistic disposition helped her creatively place the rods and screws into the bones. Anna hopes to become a doctor, but said art will always be a part of her life. "Throughout my life, art has been a unifying thread, and I never want that passion to die," she said. She's auctioned her artwork to benefit various charities, like the Northeast Humane Society, the American Heart Association and the St. Bernards Health and Wellness Institute.

FELIPE MORALES OSORIO Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School Parents: Felipe and Norma Morales College plans: Undecided

Felipe Morales Osorio has a knack for learning on his own. He taught himself pre-calculus, so he could skip straight to calculus. When his world history teacher became ill and had to leave the class mid-year, he worked on the subject independently to earn a 4 (out of 5) on the World History AP exam, meaning he's likely to receive college credit for the course. He's made a habit of turning to Khan Academy, the online collection of free academic courses, to augment or supplement his studies, and it shows: He has a 4.42 GPA and is No. 1 in his class at Parkview. Perhaps his proudest learning achievement came during a Central Arkansas Library System JavaScript coding class he took when he was 12, considerably younger than most of his classmates. He struggled, but studied hard and by the end of the summer he'd created a small version of the original Nintendo "Legend of Zelda" game. He's done grander coding projects since then, but the flash drive that stores that game sits on his bedside table as a reminder of what dedication and perseverance can mean. Felipe is considering computer science as a career path, but he's been leaning toward becoming a research mathematician. "I think math is very beautiful," he said. "There's math everywhere around us. It's in the weather. It's in the seashells. It's in almost everything. It's useful in a wide variety of fields. Science is always changing. But in math, it's more concrete and more absolute. When you prove something, like a theorem, you're proving it using logical arguments. Once you prove it, it's absolute. That really appeals to me, that it has a solid foundation."

JACKSON PARKER Age: 18 Hometown: Paragould High School: Paragould High School Parents: Melanie Parker and Jonathan Lane College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville or Yale University, undecided

Jackson Parker speaks in a measured and self-assured tone that usually only comes with older age. He's good under pressure, evidenced by his many performance-based academic accolades, including scoring a perfect 36 on the ACT, winning the Arkansas State Spelling Bee in 2015, and earning Most Valuable Player in the Arkansas State Quiz Bowl in 2016. Concentrating for long stretches of time will serve him well as a heart surgeon, which he hopes to become one day. "I like the hands-on approach of surgery," he explained. It's an approach Parker has taken to further many of his interests, including his favorite subject, chemistry (he's an alumnus of the summer health program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences); music (he plays flute in the high school band and is a student of music theory), fine art (he draws inspiration from 19th century American landscape painter Thomas Cole) and architecture (American Gothic is his favorite style). "I want to apply myself toward everything I care about like a true Renaissance man," Parker said, adding a personal philosophical view that the arts and sciences, when paired, are fundamental to "understanding the greater physics of the universe." He is a burgeoning Renaissance humanist: While many high school students would rather follow the norm, at least socially and politically, Parker doesn't hesitate to sit at the empty table. Inspired by his grandmother, he's been active with the Greene County Democratic Party, which is so small, Parker said, "it can be hard to feel like you're making a difference." He continues to volunteer with the party because "it's important to start somewhere. You need to have the other side of the moral compass present." In fact, Parker expects to have a career in politics in some way, although he's not sure how. He just knows that "politics affect our lives daily, and if we want our problems to be solved, we have to play an active role."

NOAH BLAKE RABY Age: 18 Hometown: Newport High School: Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts Parents: Jennifer Raby, Angela Lawson and the late Jerry Raby College plans: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Last summer, Noah Raby spent six weeks in Chengdu, China, as part of a National Security Language Initiative for Youth program. He'd decided to take Mandarin at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts because, of all the foreign language options, it was the one he "was most uncomfortable with." That willingness to throw himself into the unfamiliar served him well while living with his host family and being served rabbit skull, with its brain, tongue and tendons that hold the jaw to the rest of skull still intact. "Despite how disgusting that might sound, it was actually pretty good," Noah said. Still, eating in the famously piquant Sichuan province wasn't a picnic for Noah, who describes himself as "not really a man of spiciness." Noah plans on minoring in Mandarin at M.I.T. while he's majoring in computer science. The combo could allow him to score a computer-engineering job with a Chinese company down the line. He got his love for computers from his late father, Jerry Raby, a longtime cable installer for Suddenlink who died of cancer just before Noah enrolled in the ASMSA. Noah remembers spending weekends with his dad working on tech projects: fixing a broken Xbox, making flammable thermite from material they bought on eBay, and doing various computer science projects. Noah built his first computer at age 11. His computer-related innovations have made an impact on ASMSA. His science fair project on texturizing ceramic additive manufacturing inspired the school to buy its own ceramic 3D printer.

ADAM SIWIEC Age: 17 Hometown: Rogers High School: Rogers Heritage High School Parents: Ashley and Tomek Siwiec College plans: Stanford University or University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Adam Siwiec knows there's power in language. When he sits at a computer, coding language lets him create websites, software testing metrics and a laundry list of other things most of us have never heard of. When he sits at his typewriter, though, the language of poetry lets him explore a whole other world — where nature, consciousness and inner reflection dominate the landscape. Adam has pursued both languages with an ambitious determination. He's a National Merit Semifinalist, ranked first in his class, is the All-State Programming Champion, placed second at the University of Arkansas Hackathon and founded his school's computer science club. He's also self-published two books of poetry, the most recent through Amazon's publishing service. "That was a really big deal for me," he said. "I got a box of a hundred books with my name on it sent to my door, and I didn't know what to do with them. So I started handing them out, then selling them. That was fun, adding in the business side of it, too." After he read an article about internet censorship in China, he combined his two interests to create a website that pulled in the poems he had published on Instagram so that people in China, who are not allowed access to the social media site, could read his poetry. Adam plans to study computer science in college and minor in creative writing. He already has some professional coding experience under his belt from spending last summer in Poland working with his uncle's digital services agency. "I think that being a writer, it's really hard to succeed if you're not a New York Times bestseller," he said. "I really want to work for a large company like Google or Apple and do poetry as a hobby."

CLAUDIA SMITH Age: 18 Hometown: Little Rock High School: eStem Public Charter School Parents: Will and Sara Smith College plans: University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

Finding a balance between academic priorities and sports can be tricky, but Claudia Smith manages to do this and advocate for her fellow students at eStem Public Charter School. In addition to competing on the school's soccer and cross-country teams, Claudia and a friend started the Gender and Sexuality Alliance during their junior year at eStem. She did so because she wanted to "have a place for people to meet and feel like they had friends that are facing the same kinds of problems" as they are. The Alliance also works to help the community: It recently finished raising $400 for Lucie's Place, a nonprofit that provides resources and housing for homeless LGBTQ youth. No. 1 in her graduating class, Claudia is heading to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville this fall, where she plans to study engineering. While she's "really into math" and it's her favorite subject in school, she said the engineering program will allow her to do more "hands-on" work. Because eStem is a small school, she's looking forward to being on the UA's large campus with "a wider variety of people and opportunities to pursue [that] will give me more to get involved in." Claudia said she recently took a tour of the campus and was told that the school has several noncompetitive running groups, which she plans to join to keep her cross-country skills up to speed. She said her interest in politics will travel with her to Fayetteville, and she looks forward to getting involved with social justice organizations on campus.

CHASE MARIE SWINTON Age: 17 Hometown: Sherwood High School: Sylvan Hills High School Parents: Rick and Germaine Swinton College plans: Considering Vanderbilt University

Chase Swinton, who plans on studying neuroscience in college, has gotten just about as much hands-on experience in the field possible for a high school student. She learned about neurodegeneration in a project-based learning summer class at Washington University in St. Louis during the summer after her sophomore year. Last summer, she interned with Dr. Antiño Allen at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, working on NASA-funded research concerning "oxygen space radiation affecting hippocampal-dependent memory and cognitive function," as she described it in her All-Stars essay. In October, she was accepted to attend the Harvard Science Research Conference, where she learned about "computational advances in axon and neuron imaging." She's usually been the only African-American girl in such groups. That can be "difficult and lonely and isolating," she said, but as co-chair of the Principal's Council, a group that mentors middle school students, Sylvan Hills' valedictorian has gotten the chance to be an example for younger black female students. "One of my favorite sayings is 'representation begets representation.' If I'm a model for you, you'll be a model for someone else, and they'll be a model for someone else. That's really important in the black community, especially in STEM and for girls," she said. Chase's commitment to seeing things through shows in her soccer career. She was named all-conference as a freshman, but then sprained a ligament in her knee her sophomore year and suffered other knee injuries her junior year. Because of her UAMS internship, she couldn't have surgery to repair the knee over the summer, so she had to miss playing her senior year. But she's still the manager. "I didn't want to abandon the team," she explained.

ETHAN STRAUSS Age: 17 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Episcopal Collegiate School Parents: Noel and Joan Strauss College plans: Dartmouth College

Last summer, Ethan Strauss got a rare opportunity for a high school student. He interned at Forest Hill Capital, a small Little Rock investment firm, and he didn't spend his time there getting coffee and filing documents. Tasked with modeling the financial growth of a construction materials company to determine its investment potential, Ethan "read through five years of the company's quarterly reports and synthesized its income and cash flow statements and balance sheets," he wrote in his All-Stars essay, and then "linked the spreadsheets and used linear regressions to approximate future share prices." He may continue down that path by majoring in economics at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., but he's also considering international relations. He's been interested in geography since he was a child. He loves learning about different cultures. He's drawn to "the complexity of it all and being able to understand how other people think." He's particularly fascinated by unrecognized countries, areas that are self-proclaimed independent nations "and how it would be to live" in one. Pursuing a career in infrastructure investment could be a way for him to combine investments and international relations. He's sure to maintain a healthy dose of pursuits outside of his studies and work: A tennis ace, he's been half of a doubles team that's won the 3A state championship for four years in a row. He's also passionate about pingpong. His Episcopal counselor, Tricia Morgan, said he blushes when school staffers tell him pingpong "could be his Olympic sport." He's also working to share the sport with others. With the profits from a business he started reselling hard-to-find sneakers, he founded Paddle Together, a program that provides pingpong tables to homeless shelters and community centers.

SHAKIAH WILLIAMS Age: 17 Hometown: Blytheville High school: Blytheville High School Parents: Sharon Harris and Africa Wells College plans: Vanderbilt University

Mississippi County's entire population is less than that of the city of Conway. Shakiah (pronounced "Sha-kai-ah") Williams was born and raised there, in Blytheville. Some would say it's a sleepy town. Williams' high school years, however, have been quite the opposite. After school, she'd report to one of her two major extracurricular commitments: practice for the Blytheville High School cheerleading squad, or to practice and conditioning sessions as part of her membership on the Blytheville Chickasaw GymChicks gymnastics team. Add to that her membership in the school's French Club, FBLA, student council and Student Ambassadors; her time volunteering for the local chapters of both the Special Olympics and National Cancer Society; and her work with the annual Blytheville Christmas celebration "Lights of the Delta." "Honestly, this year it became stressful because of all the work I've had to get done, alongside the sports," Williams said. Part of that work, of course, was preparing to leave the high school nest. "College has always been a stressful subject for me," she wrote in her Academic All-Stars essay. "At one point in time I didn't even have the confidence to apply. I just didn't think I would make it." Her transcript shows how unfounded her fears were: Williams has a 4.22 grade point average. Her ACT score is a composite 30. Her language teacher, Lena Pierce, took her to Nashville to visit her dream school, Vanderbilt University. Williams was subsequently accepted, with just "a few thousand [dollars] a year to get covered," she wrote. "This achievement has helped me take some of the stress off of my mom. She is a single parent and having college paid for is just another weight off of her shoulders."

MICHELLE XU Age: 16 Hometown: College Station, Texas High School: Little Rock Central High School Parents: Joshua Xu and Alice Li College plans: University of Pennsylvania

When Michelle Xu found out she'd been accepted into the University of Pennsylvania, she said it was the happiest day of her life. Last summer she attended the university's Leadership in the Business World program, an intensive four-week curriculum of Wharton School of Business classes, during which Michelle's team created a startup business plan and presented it to their classmates. Michelle said she's "liked being a leader" since she was a child, and the LBW program helped her "[connect] the dots on how as a leader you lead by putting aside your ego." She said she aspires to be a "good leader in the business world," She's the first high school member of the Arkansas Association of Asian Businesses. She's also captain of Central High School's varsity Quiz Bowl team; president of its Future Business Leaders of America chapter, president of the Beta Club; vice president of Mu Alpha Theta, the school's math club; and president and founder of the school's Economics and Finance Club. Michelle said she founded the new club so students could learn about economics, rather than the "pure business" focus of the FBLA club. As valedictorian of her class, Michelle said she uses "a lot of time management" to balance her academic workload with her extracurriculars, and has had to make some sacrifices — she danced competitively until her sophomore year and played piano until her junior year, but quit both in order to focus on her classes and leadership roles. Michelle visits her family in China every three or four years, and she said a recent trip to her parents' hometowns helped her realize that "if my parents worked this hard to get to America, I need to work this hard to show them that I will continue their work."

RAMY YOUSEF Age: 17 Hometown: Little Rock High School: Little Rock Central High School Parents: Ziad Yousef and Muntaha Yousef College plans: Hendrix College or the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville

One glance at Ramy Yousef's transcript makes it clear that he has good study skills. He's ranked seventh in his class of 550 at Central High School, with a GPA of 4.43 in classes as diverse as art, debate and pretty much every AP class ever taught. But it's a question about attending Arkansas Governor's School last summer that really gets him talking about what he loves about education. "You get to learn in an environment where you don't get grades," he said. "Making friends and just waking up and going to learn every day — it was a fun experience." Ramy's motivation to do well in high school has been, he said, simply to get into a good college and pay as little as possible for it. He's got a loftier goal for when he gets there, though: to study chemistry and eventually put that knowledge to work developing new vaccines. Science is a family pursuit. Ramy's dad is an entrepreneur, but his mother is a scientist, one sibling is in medical school and the other is in college studying biomedical engineering. Ramy does science even in his downtime, watching astronomy videos on YouTube. That interest took him to a first-place finish in astronomy at the 2017 Arkansas Science Olympiad. What's so cool about astronomy? "Just the possibility that life can exist on another planet," he said.

2019 Arkansas Times Academic All-Star Team

[erikatypm-blog]

Week 1

1.1. Back in 2011 when I was still in high school, I was named the captain of my varsity field hockey team. The first time I ever played field hockey was in 2008, in my grade nine gym class. I decided to tryout the next year, and made the team the next two years. In 2011 and 2012 I was named to the All Star field hockey team, and I represented my high school and joined the Oakville team in the all star tournament.

Growing up I was naturally very athletic. I started playing soccer at the age of 6 and played house league until I was 10. I played competitively for the town of Oakville until I was 18. My team played all across Ontario, competing in tournaments with older girls and at the age of 17 I was playing with 21 year olds. I started playing volleyball in grade eight, my last year of elementary school. Volleyball was one of my favourite sports, but it was also the sport I was the least skilled at. I couldn’t overhand serve and spiking was extremely awkward. I found my place as the setter, and earned my way to a starting position in my first year playing. I joined a competitive volleyball team in 2010 and played for one year. I rarely played, only in games that we were for sure going to win. Playing competitive soccer and volleyball while in school was difficult, but I made it work because I loved playing the two sports. Throughout high school I also played for the soccer and field hockey teams. Although I wasn’t very good, I captained the school volleyball team in grade 10 and 12. I was also the only student to be named captain of the soccer team in grade nine, and I was named captain every year after that.

I will never forget the experiences I had growing up, captaining many sports team with different types of players. Yes I was gifted athletically but I don’t think that was the only reason why I was lucky enough to wear the captain’s band so many times. I always took sports very seriously. I was insanely competitive and I absolutely hated losing. There was nothing worse than watching my teammates only give 50% and then laugh when they messed up. I was always right up front, listening to what the coach had to say. Because I was the captain, I knew how important it was that I took everything seriously and tried my hardest.

As a captain, I made sure my voice was heard. I was constantly communicating with my teammates. During practice, I would praise them for a nice attempt on goal or a hard hustle to get the ball. During games, I would yell at them to run quicker, kick farther and pass harder. Not because I was mad and wanted to yell at them, but because I knew they were capable and if they had that verbal support from their captain and other teammates, that they would strive to be the best player on the field. 

I enjoyed every second of my responsibilities as captain. I felt pride in my team and I was ecstatic for each player when they made progress. During drills I pushed them physically and mentally. I was gifted with skills, so I challenged them and I always went as hard as I could against them so both of us could get better. I can recall so many times on the soccer field being so out of breath because I was running around so much and screaming at the top of my lungs.

I realized I was a strong leader in 2010, when I was named the captain of the field hockey team after only playing for one year. There were girls that were far better than me but I kept thinking to myself, why was I chosen? Looking back I know it’s because I had a love for sports and a love for my teammates. I showed up early to help set up drills and the nets, I brought snacks for everyone after practice and I pushed everyone to work hard. I made fun of the coach in a lighthearted way, creating a relaxing and trustworthy environment for the team. I wasn’t shy to give compliments, because I know how frustrating and embarrassing screwing up in a sports game can be. When you’re the one responsible for a point loss, or a change from attack to defence. 

1.2 By being a captain for many teams and different sports with different styles, I learned that there was one important trait that I needed to pass on from team to team. I had to care about my teammates, and I only learned that by having the best coaches and other captains to learn from. The captain of my competitive soccer team worked the hardest and was the most verbal. She pushed all of us to give it 110% every time, because she gave 110% every time. In workout sessions, she was at the front so everyone could see her. We were all paused on our stationary bikes, huffing and puffing and she was still on her bike, covered in sweat and still going as hard as she could no matter how tired she was. She had incredible drive and her aura alone was just enough to motivate even the laziest player. She also didn’t hang up her captain’s band after we left the soccer field. She cared about her teammates, always inviting us to her house, having one on one chats with us about boys, school and work. In 2009 we had a coaching change. The friendlier assistant coach became our new head coach and he helped turn things around for the team. He took the time to work with us individually on what we could improve and he trusted us. While I hated people who didn’t give it their all, I learned that I couldn’t be mean to those people. I learned I needed to be the better person and inspire others with my effort. Effort to work hard and effort to help my teammates. Instead of being cold to those who didn’t care, I got closer to them and encouraged them to try again and to try harder. After seeing positive results in my teammates it felt good to be a leader, so I continued. I strived to be a role model to my teammates. If we had a 6am practice and I was sick, I would still make it to practice to show my support. I learned from my own captains and coaches that if you invest time in your teammates, they will improve and strive to be better people because they have someone believing in them.

2. Two leadership strengths that I have that work well together are honesty and good communication skills. I was working as an Assistant Production Coordinator on a severely understaffed feature film with a production manager who only cared about herself and her husband who also worked on the production. She was overpaying herself and her husband and was asking other crew members to volunteer, and cut down on the budget with people’s wages. We took on an “intern” to act as our production assistant but he did way more than he should of. He was trying to break into the industry and was trying super hard to impress everyone, especially the production manager. He was using his own money for production, was volunteering himself on tasks that he shouldn’t have to be doing and was going above and beyond for the production that wasn’t paying him for his hard work. I had a sit down conversation with him at lunch one day because I couldn’t stand him being taken advantage of anymore. I told him that we know he’s trying to break into the industry, but that he was working too hard for no money. My mantra is that if anyone is getting paid, then everyone should get paid. I explained to him that he was working extremely hard, and that everyone could see it. I told him that I was once in his shoes, desperate to look for work and somewhere to get into the industry. I told him that he was doing a great job but to take it easy since I could see him overworking himself. I explained to him that his hard work was really appreciated and that I would recommend him as a production assistant to every producer I knew. I also gave him some tips on how to network and more on how the industry works. 

Two other leadership skills that I have that worked well at the same time are confidence and sound decision-making skills. I was producing a small budget commercial for a beard oil company and two days before I was supposed to go to camera my road occupancy permit was denied. I was devastated and had a panic attack. I cried out all the stress in the bathroom and I called my assistant director to let her know what was up and that I would get back to her with more info shortly. I had barely any time to think, so I focused on the most important tasks which were contacting the cast, crew and client about the cancellation and figure out another date to shoot. As soon as I sent the email out crew called me and came to visit me in my office asking what was up and I just had to be as clear and confident as I could be. There was no use in stressing because that was only going to make the situation worse. As the producer, I had to show strength and confidence so my crew members wouldn’t waiver and stress. I had to make really important decisions with little time and under a lot of pressure but I was able to re-apply for the permit the next day which got approved, and I had to re-organize all my rentals and thankfully the cast and crew were all still available. 

3. One skill that I would like to work on is delegating. I have had too many bad experiences in the past where other crew members haven’t pulled their weight and I just did it for them. I’ve had a hard time trusting people to get their job done properly and it has cost me. I want to learn how to delegate the jobs to the right people and not micromanage them. Another skill (not quite sure if this is a skill) I would like to learn is how to be more approachable. I like approaching people and talking to others but I have resting bitch face which makes it look like I’m worried or mad all the time, when I’m not! People have told me in social situations that I look upset, and I’m worried it will translate into my work life where people will think I’m mad when I’m not. I’ve been told by some classmates that I’m “scary” and intimidating. If I had a production manager that was scary I would find it hard to talk to that person and come to them when issues arise, and I don’t want that!

[floatingbouyx]

All of them! These are so intriguing

I thought so myself! Okay here we go.. 1. What is your favorite author and favorite character that the author created? I have too many.2. What country do you live in?United States 3. Are you afraid of snakes?I do not like snakes, I scream like a little girl when I see them. 4. Michelangelo or Salvador Dali?Dali! 5. Have you ever eaten New York cheesecake?I don’t like cheesecake 6. Under what circumstances would you not admit to somebody that you miss them?If they weren’t showing me that they respected me, or loved me. 7. Zombies or vampires?Zombies. Resident Evil is my favorite 8. Have you ever played truth or dare?As a kid, yes. 9. Favorite season of the year?Summer…. or Fall 10. Would you prefer a sleepover at a friends house or camping out in the wild?Camping ⛺️ 11. Would you prefer a flyby of Jupiter or actually landing on the moon?Land on the moon. What an incredible experience! (I would be terrified to be in a rocket, haha)12. If you become rich how philanthropic will you be?Very, I would help organizations as much as I was able. 13. Worst meal you ever ate?I tried seafood once, no Bueno! 14. If you were not born the race and color that you are now, given the opportunity in the womb, what race would you choose? Race does not matter to me. I would not wish to be something specific, I am who I am regardless of my outer looks. 15. Last website you visited that was not Tumblr?My Pinterest 16. Pizza Hut, Domino’s, or Papa John’s?Dominos if I had to pick one of those three 17. Bach, Beethoven, or Brahms?Beethoven 18. Have you ever eaten Baked Alaska?Nope! 19. Metropolis or Gotham?Gotham 20. What’s your favorite sport and athlete from that sport?Football-Eli manning. I also love volleyball and basketball. 21. Under what circumstances would you be willing to go commando?I go commando as much as possible! 22. Least favorite thing about the opposite sex?Bad sense of time. 23. Worst meal you ever cooked?I cannot recall making a bad meal. I’m not a top chef or anything but I’m sure I’ll make something awful in the future. 24. On a scale from 1 to 100 what level of self-esteem have you reached?Probably about a 60. Depending on the day. We all have our demons. 25. Have you ever eaten a Philly cheese steak?Yes! For my birthday Christopher took me to Philly. 26. Would you rather is at the Museum of Modern Art or the Louvre?Lourve, France! 27. Favorite superhero, sidekick and super villain? Batman! The Joker. No favorite side kick 28. Have you ever eaten Buffalo Wings?One of my favorite foods. I need more girlfriends who like to go on chicken wing dates! 29. Robin Thicke’s, Blurred Lines or Marvin Gaye’s, Got To Give It Up?Indifferent 30. Which do you prefer, Christmas dinner or Thanksgiving dinner?Christmas dinner, I generally cook for my whole family single handedly. 31. What age did you learn how to drive?15, My brother learned at a much earlier age but by the time it was my time, my father had passed away. 32. Have you ever eaten a Boston cream pie?Nope, I’m not a huge dessert fan. 33. Happy every French toast, French onion soup and French fries all in the same day?I’m fat and love all of those foods and would love them all in one day, haha. This question confused me because of the grammar. 34. Who is your favorite singer and favorite song from him/her? I have too many. 35. Would you prefer to die before your spouse or after?Before, don’t ever go before me. I’ve had enough loss. 36. Are you sexually active or celibate? Active AF37. Fictional destination you would visit? Swallow falls, cloudy with a chance of meatballs. 38. Your ideal pet?A husky, a piggy and a baby goat. And a lab. 39. Do you have a birthmark? Where? Between my toes on my right foot and on the back of my left leg. 40. Do you like getting your photo taken?Sometimes! 41. Have you ever eaten Texas toast?Yes! 42. What do you do most often when you are bored?Tumblr, watch a movie, go for a walk to my park. 43. What is your favorite TV show and character from that show? Arrow- felicity smoak 44. Everyone believes that honesty and a sense of humor are important in a mate. What else is a make or break quality in a husband or wife? Kindness and support 45. Favorite font? I don’t have one, I’m a grad student. I guess I use Times and Calibra a lot. 46. What is your favorite color to wear?Black always 47. What color do family and friends say goes great with your complexion? Blue or green because it brings out my eyes. 48. Do you know any victims of sexual molestation or rape? Yes, one of my closest friends. 49. Preference to taking a shower or taking a bath? Baths for days 50. You are tied to a chair and force to watch TV and only have the choice of these networks. PBS, AMC or BBC? AMC probably 51. Do you prefer New England or Manhattan clam chowder? I do not like seafood. 52. Evolution or Creation?Evolution53. What is an event you would have liked to have witnessed in the last 3000 years?I can’t pick just one. History is interesting 54. What is your idea of the perfect pizza?All the pepperoni, cheese, oil and garlic. 55. Would you rather sleep naked on a cold winter night under a lot of blankets or naked on a hot summer night uncovered with just a light breeze? Naked under lots of blankets 56. What is your favorite foreign word and what does it mean? I don’t have one57. Who is the person you like least in this world? Donald trump. 58. Blues Clues: Steve or Joe?Neither lol 59. Favorite Chinese food?Sweet and sour. Also fried rice with egg is life 60. You must attend dinner with the person you mentioned in question 57. You must be cordial and on your best behavior. What will the conversation consist of? Women’s rights 62. First word you think of when you read… Magician? Bunny 63. Have you ever eaten Key Lime pie?I don’t like key lime pie. Yes I have 64. What did you suffer from the last time you were sick? Sinus infection 65. Do you believe Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley are still alive? No I do not. 66. Are you willing to admit that you pick your nose? Heck yeah. I have 67. Do you hug your pillow while falling asleep? I hug my boyfriend. I have this spot on his back that I love to curl up into. 68. Have you ever seen someone for the first time and thought about kissing them? No, I haven’t. 69. Safari, Chrome, Internet Explorer (Edge) or Firefox? No preference! 70. Favorite cartoon character? Sponge bob 71. Are you willing to admit that you pee while taking a shower? I don’t usually do that lol 72. Do you dream in color or black and white. Color I think 73. Spaghetti or lasagna? Spaghetti, I don’t like lasagna. 74. Do you remember your dreams when you wake up? Sometimes 75. Do you believe in interracial marriage? Yes of course. 76. Which is more acceptable to you? Younger man and an older woman or a older man and younger woman? I do not judge. 77. Have you ever eaten Peking Duck? No, that sounds gross 78. What size mattress do you sleep on? Double 79. What is the last movie you saw in the theater? Guardians of the Galaxy 80. Do you have any bookmarks in your browser that you would be embarrassed by if your friends or family saw them? No I do not81. Does popcorn get stuck in your teeth? Yes it does. 82. Is your best friend also your oldest friend? Depends 83. Where do I you get your news from? Newspaper, television or online? Tv 84. Have you ever Googled yourself? If so, what did you find? Certain websites of mine. 85. What is your dream job? Marine biologist. 86. Which of Grimm’s Fairy Tales is most like your life? I don’t know what that is to be honest. 87. Have you ever eaten chicken Marsala? Yes I work in an Italian restaurant and my boyfriends family is very Italian. 88. Are you prejudice against Golden Oreos? No 89. What is your favorite Christmas movie? Rudolph 90. Can you talk openly and honestly with both your parents? I only have one living parent. Yes I can be, she knows every aspect of my life. Nothing to hide 91. What is your favorite movie genre and your least favorite? Action, I don’t really have a least favorite. 92. Have you pictured your dream house? If so, describe it. Big front porch with a rocking bench. Big back yard with an In ground pool. A beautiful kitchen with an island. A loft bedroom. Beautiful trees in the backyard. 93. What email service do you use? School edu ones 94. When you wipe yourself do you believe toilet paper really cleans a person well enough? Yes. I mean, for the time being until a shower lol95. List the last five blogs that visited your blog. I don’t know? 96. What is hot favorite fruit? I like hot apple sauce? But if you’re just talking about my favorite fruit I would say watermelon. 97. What is an awesome skill or talent you have that most people don’t know about? Kick ass at beer pong. 98. Do you have any allergies? Seasonal/ and I’m allergic to scented laundry detergent. 99. What is the oldest movie you have ever seen? Old history documentaries. 100. What is your favorite non food, non perfume smell? Gasoline. 101. If you could learn martial arts, which would you learn? All of them! 102. Favorite Shakespeare play? Don’t have one 103. If you could write a fantasy book about a brother and sister, what would your plot be? I don’t think I’d be a very good book writer. 104. What are your favorite toppings on the perfect hamburger? Onions, bacon, ketchup 105. What is the family board game that you like the most? Monopoly 106. Would you prefer to captain an airplane or a ship? Ship, you know me :) 107. You are an astronaut and crash land on a before unknown planetary body. Is it inhabited solely by females, males or animals? Animals. 108. What is the scariest movie you have seen? VHS 109. What movie’s trailer was so scary that you knew you would never want to see it? None I love scary movies 110. Do you prefer the Marvel universe, the DC universe or both equally? Love marvel 111. Give an oral report in the nude or give one and the audience is nude? Audience is nude. That would make me laugh and not be nervous 112. You are a scientist. Would you prefer to study the depths of the oceans or outer space? Oceans, they fascinate me 113. Name five celebrities you would like to have visit your blog daily? Jana Kramer, Emily Rickards, Brandon Urie, Ellie goulding, and Meryl Streep 114. Apple pie or sweet potato pie? Apple pie is my favorite. My mom makes a very good one and she taught me her recipe 115. Would you prefer a penthouse apartment in the city or a house with the white picket fence in the suburbs? House please! 116. Would you prefer a lobster dinner or filet mignon? Filet! 117. If you could do something special for your family what would it be? Take away financial burdens. 118. What is the easiest way for a person of the opposite sex to be attractive in your eyes? Show your true colors and let me see how much you care. Also humor is amazing 119. Do you consider yourself fluent in sarcasm? Yes 120. What is your favorite summertime drink? Sangria or summer brews 121. Do you consider yourself addicted to blogging? Yeah. I love my blog. I created it years ago to blog about nautical stuff haha 122. If you were someone else for an entire day, would you be your own friend or would you to try to distance yourself? Someone I know. Interesting to see others views. 123. Are you named after anyone? My father. 124. Are you a morning person or do you consider yourself a night owl? Night owl. But I’m always tired these days so it’s a struggle lol 125. Are you a collector of anything? All things nautical and coffee mugs126. What is your favorite TV theme song? Don’t have one 127. If you knew you were going to die tonight what would you choose as your final meal? Corn on the cob, filet and salt potatoes. A midnight snack of pizza rolls. 128. What is the one song that always makes you smile and sing when you hear it? You should be here by Cole Swindell129. Do you think taking a bath in Jell-O would be fun? No thank you 130. When is the last time you sent a correspondence to someone using snail mail (Post Office)? I returned a book to Chegg the other day. 131. If you were an anime character, what color hair would you have? Purple hair 132. What is the first thing you notice about someone you just met? Hmmm, eyes 133. What is something funny you heard recently? Christopher had a really funny joke the other day. 134. Do you prefer Doctor Who or Doctor Zhivago? Neither! 135. Do you have a middle name? Yes it’s Nicole. 136. What condiments do you use to eat a hotdog? Ketchup and mustard. 137. Was this too long? Yes. It barely fit in the Tumblr post.