Chris Maurice

Columnist

The one-month mark of being in school has approached us; I thought it would be appropriate to interview a new freshman and welcome them to the Latin community. When I asked Sandy Nguyen if she would join me, she didn’t even hesitate.

As we walked over to Starbucks, Sandy told me what life before Latin was like. She graduated from McCutcheon, was sad to leave her friends from middle school, but excited to meet new students at Latin. Sandy also informed me that she was the middle school president and student council at Latin may be a possibility. So far, high school has been treating her pretty well.

As Sandy ate her chocolate chip cookie, she told me about her daily routine. She starts of with a piece or two of toast with jam or butter. Then gets all ready for school, and she hops on the red line, and arrives at school with enough time to grab a Gatorade to make it through long block. For lunch Sandy enjoys eating sushi and taking one of those addictive chocolate chip cookies that the cafeteria serves. We both agreed that the chewy cookies are the best. Once home she starts her homework, which doesn’t seem to be a problem for now. Sandy loves all the classes that she is taking, but knows that they are going to get much harder. I had to agree.

Sandy looks forward to playing on the girl’s soccer team this year and sees being part of a school play in her future at Latin. Sandy also is super excited for her first project week, though it is quite some time away, and she admits that she has no idea what to really expect.

In her spare time Sandy enjoys watching television, and she can’t wait for the 50th anniversary of Dr. Who to air. She can’t wait to start watching Breaking Bad —probably one of my favorite shows of all time— with all the buzz around the Latin community about it. When I brought up the lines at lunch Sandy completely agreed with me that it is tough to wait in those long lines and usually just goes for the pizza or sushi. She also said in the beginning of the year it is hard to remember all the names and people, but she is now starting to settle in. Sandy also told me about her computer graphics design class, and all the projects she is excited to start working on. As the time flew by, and Sandy’s chocolate chip cookie was gone, our conversation came to an end. Sandy says that being is high school is just fun, and she enjoys the freedom that comes with it. Even though she thinks high school is fun, she is not looking forward to taking tests and writing essays. Me neither, Sandy. I assured Sandy that at times school will be frustrating, but in the end it is all worth it. I enjoyed the time I spent with Sandy at Starbucks. Maybe you and join me next time, and if I ask you to come to Starbucks with me, don’t just awkwardly stare at me, and tell me you have something to do. Come with me!]]>