Viking Vibe

Alex D. is one of the most unique peopleIknow. I got the privilege to learn a lot about him these past few months, and he turned out to be a really cool kid. Alex is hard-working, extremely funny, and has one of the best personalities out there. Here is some of the interesting information that I have found learned about the legendary Alex in the past 100 days….

Throughout high school, Alex was an active participant on South’s track team. He ran all three seasons: cross country, winter track, and spring track all throughout high school until finally taking a break his senior year.  His favorite part about being on the track team was being able to hang out with everyone while at the meets. ” You spend a lot of time together because each meet is so long,  it was fun to get to know everyone.” Sadly, it seems like he is going to miss the track team and all the friends that he made while being on the team.

Alex is going to be attending Ithaca College in the fall of 2008 and is very excited. When I asked him if he was nervous about heading up to college, he laughed and responded by saying, “No way!” Apparently, he is excited about finally getting out of Rockland County (like most of us going off to college), and meeting new people.

While he attends the prestigious Ithaca College, Alex hopes to major in business, particullary international business. Business was always a career Alex wanted to pursue when he got older. Ithaca has an amazing business school, so Alex is proud he got into such a great business school.

Alex D. is someone you have to meet! His great sense of humor and personality will win you over in a heartbeat. If they do not, then you do not know a good thing when you see it!

A few days ago, I was speaking to my good friend Alex F.  Notably, many people know him by his nickname ”fish,” but he says anything you want to call him is fine. 

Beginning next fall, Alex will be attending the University of West Georgia where he will probably be majoring in sports management.  Speaking of sports, he has been a Cross Country and track runner in his years at South and hopes to be a member of West Georgia’s Cross Country team, but has yet to hear anything from the coach.  Unlike many people who applied to ten or more colleges, West Georgia was the only school Alex applied to and was lucky enough to get accepted.  He was very glad to get in because now he will be moving down to Atlanta with his mom over the summer.  Excitingly, he has a lot of family members already living there. 

Some of Alex’s interests include music and movies.  He is a big fan of horror movies, especially the Saw series, and his favorite type of music is rap.  Some of his favorite rappers include 50 Cent, G- Unit, and Lil’ Wayne. (LOL—I try telling him he’s white, but he doesn’t listen.)  I almost forgot to mention that he’s also a big-time Yankees and Atlanta Falcons fan.  

Overall, Alex is nice guy who is dedicated to running and knows what he wants out of life.  His proactive approach and strong work ethic will undoubtedly serve him well in the future! 

Alexander Castaneda E. is the epitome of hipster fashion.  With his laid-back “I don’t care” attitude and super skinny jeans, he looks like he came straight from a Vampire Weekend concert.  But when it comes to high school, sports, college plans, and friends, he is just your average eighteen-year-old boy.

From the looks of him, you would not believe that Alex is a sports fan.  In fact, he is actually a soccer fanatic.  His favorite team is Liverpool.  He is also one of the staple players on the South varsity tennis team.  When he is not playing tennis, he is escaping school early with friends to go to Wendys.  One particular seemingly high-speed chase ending in his ultimate escape, was the highlight of Alex’s high school career.

Next year Alex will be majoring in English at St. Thomas Aquinas after eliminating SUNY Cortland, SUNY Buffalo, and RCC from his pool of choices.  He hopes to one day be a satirist or a movie review writer for Rolling Stone magazine.  Before he embarks on his new life in college, this summer he hopes to visit Europe again.  Notably, this past spring break, Alex went to London and had the time of his life.

So watch out for Alex—someday, he may be the next Ebert and Roeper!

Tom R. is a current senior and class president of Clarkstown South High School.  His glorious attributes, including his stellar personality and tremendous athletic ability, are what make him so successful.

Tom will be attending RIT next year to play lacrosse.  Riley has been a contributing member of the Varsity Lacrosse team since his sophmore year.  His outstanding numbers and knowledge of the game make him a huge threat on the field.  While talking to Tom I found out his views on our team.  He said that even though our record is spotty, we can still play with any team in our section.  He claims that our team is really suprising people and showing the critics what South Lacrosse is all about.  One weak point is that we can play down to teams at times, but when we play to the best of our ability, we can beat anyone.     

Other than his strong affinity for lacrosse, Tom is an avid fan of most sports.  In fact, he was part of the varsity soccer team until he broke his wrist.   Not surprisingly, Tom also enjoys a good game of golf on a clear day.  President R. has been the heart of the student government for quite some time, and has also volunteered his time in clubs such as the Asset Team.  Additionally, he traveled to Minnesota last year to learn about how to be an asset trainer.

Ultimately, Tom R. is a very well -liked figure around the Clarkstown South community.  He does what he can to make everything and everyone around him better.  South will lose a great person, but RIT will be much better with the entrance of President R.   

Many of you only know her as Lauren F.  However, there is more to this average high school senior than meets the eye.  Born in Nyack Hospital, Lauren entered this world as small six-pounder on the morning of November 15th. 

Starting her education as a shy five-year-old at Bardonia Elementary, Lauren was nervous and excited to be at a new school with her peers.  Growing up with her older brother, Marc, Lauren always had someone to look up to and go to for advice. 

In high school is when Lauren started to become more independent and social, meeting new friends and being pushed to work hard with her new schoolwork, teachers, and extracurricular activities.  Finding her passion for running, Track and Field, along with Cross Country, has become her most memorable high school experience.  Spending endless hours working to reach a goal and cheering for her teammates is an experience she will never forget. 

But living in the same home in Rockland County for over seventeen years has its cons.  Restless Lauren is finally ready to escape and leave the only home she knows to start her independence next fall at Western Connecticut State University.  Lauren plans on majoring in marketing in the Business field with an effort to further her career.  I can’t wait to see how it all turns out, at the reunion!

        According to Greek mythology, a man of 5 feet, six inches, with eyes as brown as the deep, rich soil that made up his ancient land, Justin Reich emerged from the fire and flames of Mt. Vesuvius; at least, this is as he tells it. Stemming way back to 1990, Justin has evolved into a super-human being who prefers chocolate over vanilla and aspires to attend RCC with an interest in computer engineering. From what I gained from him, Justin prefers the Autobots over the Deceptacons, and likes his women to mirror his features (height, weight, eye/hair color, only with different sexual organs).

            When asked of the importance of facial hair, Justin kicked back and stroked his ferocious manstache and laughed at the mere question. “Facial hair is very important to me,” he said. After professing a love for video games of war and violence, Mr. R. expressed a relatively peaceful demeanor and carried himself professionally. The future is bright for Justin, but his soul burns even brighter. LOLOLOL!

How can you start off an article about Samantha “Sammi” K. without mentioning her obvious lack of height? You can’t, because I just did. Sammi K. is listed at 4 foot 11 (and 3/4-but who’s counting?) and she is “loud + annoying” to counter her height issues. You know, she’s just like a little dog trying to pick a fight with a large dog. 

However, she has never let anything hold her back, except sports. She has never liked sports, but being the good sport that she is she gave track a try. It never clicked so she quit. She is more into fashion and design, as demonstrated by her fashion design class that she is currently taking, and all the colorful outfits that she puts together.

In the fall Sammi is going to be attending Cortland State University where she will be pursuing a childhood education degree, to someday, hopefully teach in the Clarkstown School System. She would really like to work with the first through third graders, as they are her favorite grades. She is ecstatic to be going to Cortland because it gives her the opportunity to “start a new school and meet new people.”

But back to the current life (sorry, Sammi, you have to wait until college.), Sammi spends her days toiling at school, sometimes texting at school to make the day go by faster, working at Drug World, and doing everything that a normal teenager does, like visiting the local cinema to enjoy a movie. Speaking of movies, her favorite movie genres happen to be (surprise, surprise) “chick flicks” and comedies.  Moreover, as any other teenage girl has done, she has had her phone surgically super-glued to her hip, so it can be with her at all times.

As Senior Year comes to a conclusion, Sammi will miss the South atmosphere, specifically friends she may not see for a long time, or teachers that have made an impact on her, but she is confident that South has prepared her adequately for college and the not-so- distant real world.

Brandon S. may be a quiet kid, but he sure isn’t a boring kid. Brandon is a very active and talented person, and participates in two varsity sports. He was a starter on the varsity bowling team his junior and senior years, and averaged over 170 his senior year. But as good as he is at bowling, he’s even better at tennis. He is on the first doubles team, and some of his teammates claim he is the one that carries the (doubles) team. Maybe someday he will be the next Roger Federer.

But just in case he is not the next Roger Federer, Brandon will be attending Binghamton University next fall, and while he is currently undecided, he plans on majoring in business or engineering. While at Binghamton, Brandon also plans on continuing playing tennis. He plans on playing club or intramural tennis, and will look to continue his dominance on the court. Moreover, he plans on playing flag football, and will probably succeed at that too.

Brandon has always loved sports, and been good at them. He has played soccer, baseball, bowling, and tennis competitively and enjoys playing wiffleball, volleyball, golf, and football with friends. He enjoys watching baseball and football. His favorite teams are the New York Mets and New York Jets. He also is involved in several fantasy teams including: fantasy baseball, football, basketball, and even fantasy hockey. If it were up to Brandon the only thing on TV would be sports, and 24.

Lastly, Brandon is an avid video game player and enjoys games of all genres, but his two favorite types of games are sports games and shooting games. He recently picked up Grand Theft Auto 4, and he claims that, “It is the best game ever created; I could play all day, if it weren’t for school.”

Well, that about sums up Brandon S., an sports fanatic who loves his video games.

The Rich E. you know is a plain and boring person.  But I bet you didn’t know a whole new side of Rich that’s filled with mud pits, pickup trucks, and NASCAR!  But if you talk to Rich, he wouldn’t tell you about his alternative life.  Instead he would fill your head with random baseball statistics or tell you about how bad his fantasy team has been this year.

            If you haven’t figured it out yet, Rich lives a secret life as a redneck.  After years of hiding this fact, Joe Forgione made the discovery two years ago.  Finally, it all made sense.  There were so many clues at Rich’s alternative identity that it was amazing he kept it a secret for so long.  First off, Rich is a big NASCAR fan who claims, “I like to watch the last forty or fifty laps of a race, if not all of it…I watch qualifying laps too.”  Many northerners would find this extremely unusual, since they get bored after one lap unless it’s the last lap or there’s a collision.  Rich, whose never been to a NASCAR race says, “It’s the closest I can get for now.  I can’t wait to see one in person.”

            Another big clue of Rich’s redneck background is that he is going to the University of South Carolina.  He just can’t stay away from the South.  He also has many relatives who live in the South and his mom has spent most of her life in Redneck country, so obviously it’s in his blood.

            So for now, Rich counts down the days until he can get out of the “cold” North and live with his own kind.