Seniors in the Spotlight
Spencer Margolis
It’s June and the class of 2021 is about to graduate. Because the seniors of the Charger Press have contributed a great deal to not only the newspaper but also the school, we thought it would be fitting to send them off with some proper recognition.
Interviews were conducted for the seniors of the Charger Press staff, including regular staff reporters and the two editor-in-chiefs, Sarah Gerovac and Cora Kuhlenbeck. Cora is also the head photographer and co-runs the CP Twitter and Instagram accounts. Sarah has been in the Charger Press since its beginning and was even in the Troubadour before its renaming. Both Charger Press co-editors have written many articles and they will surely be missed.
Other notable mentions are Nikki Nair, who joined the Charger Press in 2019 and quickly became a copy editor and staff writer. She has always put in lots of effort into helping other members flourish and perfect their writing. Next, Emma Hartman, who also joined the Charger Press in 2019, has written a multitude of pieces, mainly about bettering the environment and the community. Last is Sarah Onysio who also joined the Press in 2019. She is a staff writer as well and has contributed multiple articles to the student newspaper.
After putting in huge amounts of effort, time, sweat, blood, and tears into the Press and the school, it’s only fair to ask them, in their last article, easier questions to take the stress off of things. Especially after going through COVID, missing prom, and other activities like band, it’s well deserved. Here are their interview responses:
Sarah Onysio
Why did you join the Charger Press? “I heard about Charger Press from a friend and thought that I would try it out! I’ve always liked researching and writing, so it was a good fit.”
What’s the most memorable article you’ve written? “The most memorable article I wrote was about schools bringing in therapy dogs during exams. It was a lot of fun to research how dogs help humans and contact schools that do bring in therapy dogs so I could hear about their experiences.”
What do you plan on doing after high school? Do you plan on pursuing journalism? “I am pursuing environmental engineering. I am not going to pursue journalism as a career, but plan on trying to be a part of my university’s newspaper.”
What is your favorite article that has been published in the Charger Press? “There are so many good ones it's hard to choose! Honestly, I have read so many great articles in the last two years, there really isn’t one specific one that sticks out to me above the rest.”
If money wasn’t involved, what career would you like to pursue? “I would probably stay in the same field, but pursue a job that has more to do with research and field work. Specifically, becoming an environmental scientist.”
What will you miss about high school? “I will for sure miss seeing my friends every day! It's going to be sad to live in completely different states from them.”
What are you most excited about in your transition? “I’m excited to take classes more focused on my major and to meet lots of new people!”
Who is your favorite journalist? Favorite newspaper? “I can’t say that I have a favorite journalist, but I typically go to CNN or BBC for my news.”
Emma Hartman
Why did you join the Charger Press? “I joined mainly because I had Mrs. Kowalske as my AP Lang teacher and loved her class! She suggested joining and writing some articles and I’m so glad I gave it a try because I’ve had a lot of fun over the past two years in Charger Press!”
What’s the most memorable article you’ve written? “I loved writing the Horoscope articles with Nikki, and also writing a piece about tips for how to protect the environment!”
What do you plan on doing after high school? Do you plan on pursuing journalism? “I plan on going to the University of Minnesota to major in Biology, Society, and Environment! In the future I’d love to travel and write about different cultures and the environment in other parts of the world, and Charger Press has definitely inspired me to consider pursuing journalism in some form!”
What is your favorite article that has been published in the Charger Press? “I liked writing the article about the DECA State Officers because it was so fun to interview my two friends who were elected! I love how the Charger Press can get involved with so many other clubs, students, teachers, and the community, and I hope that the DECA piece brought some pride to Hamilton’s DECA Club!”
If money wasn’t involved, what career would you like to pursue? “If I could pick anything and not have to worry about making money, I would love to be a children’s book author because I think that would be so much fun!”
What will you miss most about high school? “I will miss the teachers and classmates that I have made relationships with over the past four years! It’s exciting to move on to new things, but it is definitely sad to part with so many amazing people!”
What are you most excited about in your transition? “I’m super excited to get involved in new things and meet new people!”
Who is your favorite journalist? Favorite newspaper? “My favorite newspaper is The New York Times and I don’t have a specific favorite journalist but I like reading “The Morning” news stories that they send out in brief daily emails to keep people updated with the latest news!”
Nikki Nair
Why did you join the Charger Press? “I’ve always liked to read and write, and I wanted to do something fun that involved that. I also had friends in Charger Press, so I showed up to a meeting and decided it was something I wanted to do.”
What’s the most memorable article you have written? “I’m really proud of my first article, where I interviewed virtual, in-person, and quarantined students at the beginning of the year. It was so interesting to see how different everyone’s school environments were because of the pandemic. The Beginner’s Guide to Astrology series that Emma Hartman and I wrote was also so fun; it was really just Emma and me learning more about astrology and sharing about it.”
What do you plan on doing after high school? Do you plan on pursuing journalism? “After high school, I plan on studying political science and economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I’m really interested in public policy, specifically public financial policy. Journalism is an interest of mine, and it may be something I explore more in college, but I don’t see myself working in that industry.”
What is your favorite article that has been published in the Charger Press? “I have a few. Around the inauguration, I really enjoyed reading “The Electoral College: What’s The Problem” by Sarah Onysio and “Student Voices: Black Lives Matter” by Maddie Gammon. “A Fashionable Conversation” by Cora Kuhlenbeck surprised me; I’ve never really been interested in fashion, but that article caught my attention from the moment I saw it.”
If money wasn’t involved, what career would you like to pursue? “I would be interested in a career in news production. I’m not someone who would want to be in front of the camera, but I think I would enjoy producing a news show and running it behind the scenes. There are many issues in modern news media, and I think it would be interesting to work towards fixing them.”
What will you miss most about high school? “Honestly, I think I’ll miss the structure. I’ve been virtual this year, and I never realized how much I needed a routine until now. Also, I’ll miss seeing my friends every day.”
What are you most excited about in your transition? “I’m most excited for the freedom. I’m an independent person, but living away from home is another level of independence that I’m excited to take on. I’m also excited to meet new people at college.”
Who is your favorite journalist? Favorite newspaper? “I don’t follow individual journalists that much, but I admire Jonathan Swan. I appreciate his level headed and informative perspective and interpretation of the news. As for newspapers, I get most of my news from NPR, The New York Times, and the Associated Press.”
Cora Kuhlenbeck
Why did you join Charger Press? “Honestly, I really needed another club to put on my college application and I loved writing, so I figured why not?”
What’s the most memorable article you have written? “The most memorable would probably be my article: “A Letter to My Teammates.” I wrote it to my rugby team and a lot of them loved it.”
What do you plan on doing after high school? Do you plan on pursuing journalism? “I will be attending the University of Minnesota and majoring in strategic communication with the intent of enrolling as a pre-law student. I plan on pursuing journalism as my minor.”
What is your favorite article that has been published in the Charger Press? “That’s hard since there are so many good ones, but probably the teacher feature on Mr. Holloway. I’ve had him as my advisor for four years and it was really cool to see him in the spotlight.”
If money wasn’t involved, what career would you like to pursue? “Photographer for big magazine brands like Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, or Vanity Fair.”
What will you miss most about high school? “Making friendships with classmates and becoming a little class “family”. Usually it’s with people you’d never expect to talk to, but then you do and you realize they are so much fun. Other than that, I will not miss much.”
What are you most excited about in your transition? “Creating my own class schedule, decorating my dorm, finding all the best trendy coffee spots in Minneapolis. Also the opportunity to make new friends.”
Who is your favorite journalist? Favorite newspaper? “So this might be ironic, but I actually don’t know many journalists or read a whole lot of newspapers. BUT, I do really enjoy Vogue because it doesn’t just offer fashion advice, but it’s also inclusive and covers real-life stories around the world. There is also an accessible online version where you can access a multitude of their inclusive works. I actually quoted an article from them in my fashion piece on how clothing is gender-less and can be used as a form of expression. That’s why I enjoy Vogue, because it utilizes fashion as a way to change the world.”
Sarah Gerovac
Why did you join Charger Press? “I joined Charger Press because I’ve always enjoyed writing and editing, and I thought that helping to put together a newspaper like this would be a fun opportunity.”
What’s the most memorable article you have written? “I really enjoyed writing my foreign exchange student article last year because it was really cool to be able to learn about other peoples’ high school experiences in countries like Germany and Italy.”
What do you plan on doing after high school? Do you plan on pursuing journalism? “I’ll be attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and I’m planning to do a double major in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.”
What is your favorite article that has been published in the Charger Press? “I always like all of the teacher interview articles because they always turn out really fun, and I also liked writing my book review of a Kurt Vonnegut short story collection because he’s one of my favorite authors.”
If money wasn’t involved, what career would you like to pursue? “I think that I would still go into engineering, although maybe I’d do more of something else like writing on the side.”
What will you miss most about high school? “I guess that I’ll mostly miss my friends and all of the activities we’ve been involved in together the past four years.”
What are you most excited about in your transition? “I’m excited for meeting new people and being able to move at least a bit away from home.”
Cover photo from Pinterest
