Madison Yost- Senior

“This is my first year in Fayette County. I moved from Portland, Oregon, and I was in Portland for 16 years. My family and I moved because of my dad’s job; he works at Panasonic now. I wanted to stay at my friend’s house and then visit [my parents] during any breaks but they wouldn’t let me. I was really upset to leave my senior year, but it’s been really good so far and everyone has been really nice. Coming into McIntosh has been a lot easier than I thought because the people are really nice and the teachers are really great. And there’s a lot of clubs and stuff to get involved with – like swim team and stuff. I was on the swim team at my old school freshmen through junior year and I qualified for districts last year and was varsity last year so I want to keep that going. Having a swim team at McIntosh made me feel a lot better [about moving here]. I’ve noticed that McIntosh is a lot more strict than my other school – especially the dress code. I feel like I couldn’t wear any of my shorts and shirts anymore and I was kinda bummed about that. But it’s okay; I got new clothes. Another thing that is different is that the classes here are easier, which is really nice for my senior year, so I’m pumped about that. Also, classes in Oregon were an hour and a half long, so we had a lot more homework and I have so much less homework now. So I’m chill. I thought I wouldn’t like regular scheduling because I would have the same classes everyday, and it would be, like, boring, but there’s a lot less homework that they give you because they see you everyday. So that’s really nice; like I have an hour of homework every night and in Oregon I would have three. Plus, McIntosh is also a lot bigger; about 500 kids bigger. It’s weird when I’m walking through the hallways, and every single day I walk the same way but I see new people every day. There’s just so many people here.”

Emma Vender- Senior

“I’m very athletic, and my hair was long, so it became tedious to keep putting it up and taking it back down. No one really cared that I cut it, so there were no dramatic reactions. Except when I went to church, then people were like “what?” but they all liked it. I liked the upkeep of short hair better. When I was growing it out I found a length I like better. I like the length I have now – this long bob. I was just tired of it. I was tired of short hair – and it was really short. I guess I missed having longer hair and I kinda wanted to put it up [into ponytails] again. It took me a full year to grow it to what I have now; it was basically February to February. No, I did not feel as though my femininity was affected by having short hair. Yeah, I would cut it that short again. I don’t know when, we’ll see what happens, but not in the foreseeable future. But I would do it again – it was fun and I liked it.”

Lila Slay – Freshman
“This morning I woke up with PK& Denise on 96.1, and I was hoping to win $1000 for their radio contest.”

Claire Oliver – Sophomore
“Good Morning America told me to look at the Solar Eclipse with Ritz Crackers, so I’m planning to file a lawsuit soon.”

Corporal Isaac – School Resource Officer
I have a bad day when I can’t influence anyone to do the right thing or be a productive citizen.”

Graham Kolhaas – Sophomore
“People who usually make others uncomfortable make me comfortable because they give me faith in the world.”

Anastasia Gonzalez – Sophomore
“I tried guava and cheese pastries the other day. They were the most disgusting things I’ve ever consumed. A mountain of sugar with guava, and then I didn’t even find the cheese.”