On Saturday, May 22nd, Northern students danced the night away at their first Junior-Senior Prom. The event was held at The Empire Room on Elm St. downtown, and was hosted by student council The theme of the formal af-fair was ‘Mystical Garden,’ an idea envisioned by senior student council member Morgan Benshoff. “I thought it would be a good alternative to cheesy prom themes,” commented Benshoff, when ques-tioned about the paper decorations. “I thought they looked really pretty and people seemed to like the paper tunnel.” For weeks, student council members and volunteers alike had been slaving away at hundreds of paper flowers to adorn the Empire Room for prom. In addition to this, every person who bought a prom ticket was offered a handmade paper flower as a keepsake. On the night of prom, the event had sold out. With 386 tickets sold, student council considered their efforts a success. Alex Dempsey, Vice-President of the Junior class, commented on the evening.

was a great birthday party,” joked Senior Mary Lawless. “I’m glad I only decided to invite upperclass-men,” she added with a wink. Since it was the first prom, altercations such as minor com-plaints about the music had to be expected. Overall though, everyone seemed to have a wonderful time wearing their best formal wear and dancing with friends. For the senior class, this 2010 prom was very memorable in that it was the last high school dance seniors would ever share together. “Prom was great,” ex-claimed Senior Kiersten Bethea. “Everyone looked amazing and every moment was enjoyable!”Hardworking student council mem-bers could be found in the Empire Room after prom, picking up paper flowers and fallen corsages from the ground. Their hard work had paid off, and they were impressed with how the evening had carried out. “I think that the night was a suc-cess and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun,” concluded Senior Class President Anna Knight. “I am very pleased that the seniors had a successful last dance to re-member.”

Scholarshipsby Abby Willcox

volume 5 Senior Edition june 2, 2010

We’ve all seen the “Oh the Places You’ll Go” display in the front of the school, and many people look at it to see exactly where seniors are bound next year. In case you missed it, this chart

shows an estimated percentage of where students are headed after high school.

data compiled by Abby Willcox

Northern seniors started off the school year with a lot on their plates. Around September seniors had to start applying to the colleges of their choice. With the applying process also the process of apply-ing for scholarships. This pro-cess takes all year, depending on which scholarships you apply for. The scholarships range from full scholarships to some smaller, very unique scholarships. To start the process you usually have to apply very early in the year. Once you apply it may take months until you will hear back. Depending on the scholarship you apply for, you may have to write essays or even have interviews to secure your spot as a scholarship nominee.One of the well known seniors at Northern Guilford, Brandon May-field, a Morehead-Cain candidate

received an $80,000 scholarship. This scholarship covers all expens-es for four years of undergradu-ate study at UNC, and features a distinctive program of summer enrichment experiences. For some students there were very unique scholarships available. There were some very unique scholarships that were awarded to seniors at Northern. One of the very well known scholarships is the Polish Falcon of America Scholarship.A fellow Senior Drew Dippel, received the Polish Falcon of America Scholarship. Which is a $500 scholarship awarded to PFA members of 6 years and a GPA of 3.0. When asked about how he felt when he received this scholarship, said Drew Dippel, “I was ecstatic”.Not only can you receive schol-arships for being from a certain see rest of story on page 5

Seniors Josh Simmons and Sarah Apple take their first

dance as the schools first prom queen and king

PROM ‘10

“I was disappointed with the DJ, but overall it turned out fairly well for student council’s first senior prom.” Halfway through the night, the music stopped and the lights were turned on. It was time for the announcement of Northern High School’s first prom king and queen. Though many excellent candidates had been nominated, no one appeared disappointed when Seniors Josh Simmons and Sarah Apple were declared prom royalty. “I was flattered when I was

nominated,” declared a modest Sarah Apple. “It is nice to feel like your peers generally like you, for the most part. And it was fun to see everyone looking their best and having a good time!” “I had a really GREAT time at prom actually,” stated Junior Will Bednar. “Eric Ball and I had the most epic dance off of all time.” For one senior girl, the night of May 22nd was not only the night of her Senior Prom, but also the night of her 18th birthday. “It

volume 5 Editorial page 2

Going to college:For love or career?

Going to college with a career goal in mind is impor-tant so you can have a strong grasp on your ideas for the future. Having an idea of what you want to do with your fu-ture keeps you focused on your school work during college. If you don’t have a plan you can become distracted with social events and lose focus on what you are really at college for… a diploma. Col-lege is a time to get focused and set your goals for what you want to do with your life. In college you are supposed to find who you are and the per-son you want to be, however you are also supposed to leave college with a degree and pos-sible job opportunity. By starting college with a career or field in mind you are able to narrow down pos-sible career options within your first couple semesters to decide what you want to do with the rest of your life. Not only does having a career in mind as you go to college help you with staying focused, but it helps you make connections. In my personal experi-ence I have chosen to double major in marketing and in-ternational business with a minor in French at Ap-palachian State University. Because I know what career I want to pursue I have been able to apply and be accepted into a college with a strong

business program. Along with an excellent business program I was also accepted into a residential learning commu-nity that focuses on business exploration. In this program I will be able to interact with the college of business profes-sors before I enter the college of business. This opportunity lets me stay focused and gives me first-hand experience into my major of choice. Having a career goal in mind helps you take initiative in planning for your future and using every opportunity to your advantage to make your future bright.

enter in their writing school. I will graduate with a degree in Creative Writing and use my skills to further a career in poetry. Any career in the field of the arts is “iffy.” Whether or not you can actually make money, whether or not you will actually become known, whether or not you’ll be able to live comfortably are all questions that arise when de-ciding to pursue your passion for art. Personally, I could not imagine living any other way than the way of the “starving artist.” The idea of complacen-cy terrifies me. Just thinking about going to college to be trained for a job that I will do for the rest of my life, so that I can pay for a big house and live in the same place forever makes my stomach hurt. All the luxuries of 100K a year cannot live up to the satisfac-tion of doing what you love. To live without passion is barely living at all. So to all of you who are just now looking at colleges, I urge you to not make your de-cision based on money. Don’t go to Pharmacy School or Business School just because you or your parents want you to live comfortably. Do what you want. This is the best time in your life to explore your options. And you don’t want to be tied down already, do you?

Career viewpoint by Alexis Wilhelm

Love viewpoint byReid Drake

From a very young age my parents have told me that I shouldn’t go to college just to go into a career. I should go to college to do what I love, whether it will bring in money or not. My father is a prime example of this. He attended two years of medical school before he decided to drop out and get his terminal degree in painting. I have always been proud of this decision. Like my father, I have found my passion in life and it falls in the category of the arts. In the fall I will be at-tending the University of North Carolina at Ashville to

volume 5 Senior Edition page 3

pre-flight checklistby Kelly Bachman

who you want to room with in college, there’s no need to worry. Colleges will either put you in‘pot luck’ with a random person to share your dorm with, or you can go on sites like “roommates.com” to find someone who would cooperate well with you. Once you have been assigned a dorm, you and your room mate will want to research the dimensions of the dorm and what furniture is provided by the school. Talk with your room mate about which one of you will be bring-ing what when it comes to tele-visions, furniture game sys-tems, etc. On the first day of school, whether you and your roommate are friends already or not, it is VERY important to establish a roommate contract. This will include study hours, how late guests can visit, noise levels, etc. Be sure to speak your mind on this first day so that conflicts can be avoided.

4. Prepare to move in.Its tie to go shopping! For your dorm you might want decora-tions such as posters, an area rug, and pictures from home. You’ll also want to get practical things such as shelves, a laun-dry basket, and clothes hang-ers. Neccesary bath supplies include towels, a bathrobe, toi-letry items, shower shoes, and a bathroom caddy. For enter-tainment you’ll want to pack your movie and book collec-tion, along with videogames. You also may need to find new clothing for the climate of your university’s campus. For in-stance, schools in the moun-tains of NC can get very cold! Storage boxes/bags can be pur-chased to store seasonal cloth-ing at colleges with varying weather. Also see if your dor-mitory will provide a lock box for valued posessions. If not you may want to invest in one! On a more serious note, now is the time to get your payements in for that first semester. Talk to your parents about how you are going to pay for college, and how to pull out loans to make paying for college easier. In addition to this, during this time you’ll have the opportu-nity to finance a meal plan for your first semester. Most universities have a variety of meal plans to choose from.

5. Go to freshman orientation.If your university of choice of-fers a freshman orientation (and most all of them do), go to it! You can learn so much about clubs and organizations, learn your way around campus, and even meet your teachers! Ori-entation helps to make college a lot less scary on the first day. You will be given a lot of helpful information, get your student ID card, and the opportunity to take ‘placement tests’ to test out of a certain classes. Orientation is the time to figure out what great classes you’ll be enrolled in next fall, and maybe even the time to meet new friends for your first year as a college student. At this time you’ll want to provide your college with your medical history and immunization history (if you aren’t updated on immuniza-tions its time for a doctor visit!).

6.Get a laptop. At most universities, laptops computers are one of the most important tools to have on cam-pus. If you don’t have one al-ready, this summer is the time to buy or rent one. Many schools offer laptop renting programs, along with a chance to buy a laptop through the university. Buying a laptop through the university can be more expen-sive, but most unviersities have a great policy about broken laptops. If a computer bought through the school breaks down for any reason, most schools will immediately replace it or provide a temporary replace-ment until the computer can be fixed. Buying a laptop out-side of your school also has its advantages. You would most likely have a lot more choices, and would be able to custom-ize your settings in more ways. 7. Save up spending money.This one’s simple. Get a sum-mer job! Even if your parents are paying your tuition and meal plan for college, there are so many other expenses that you may not have even antici-pated. Save up as much money as you can to pay for college, and pay to have fun at college!

8. Enjoy your last summer with friends. Before you go your separate ways, be sure to enjoy

your friends and family this summer. Remember that good-bye at the end of summer does not have to be goodbye forever, and that there will be opportu-nities for you to see your high school ‘BFF’ again after col-lege begins. Nonetheless, you probably will be seeing your high school friends a lot less, so now’s the time to enjoy your ‘last hoorah.’ Go on a road trip, take a drive to the beach, or just enjoy your time at the pool! Make the most of this sum-mer and remember it forever.

9.Moving day. ts time to leave the nest, and this may be an emotional time for you and your family. Make sure you remember to pack everything on your own person-al checklist (be sure this check-list includes school supplies for classes-i.e paper, pens, cal-culator, notebooks, backback, etc.), and move in to your dorm early. Take time to find your classes, meet your roommate, and get settled in. Today is a day for tearful goodbyes, but its also a happy day to start your new college experience!

10. Have a safe and excel-lent college experience!You are sure to meet great friends through parties, clubs, sports, and other organizations. If you go to all of your classes, and stay safe, college will be fun and rewarding. Be care-ful at parties and make sure you don’t go out alone at night. During class, be attentive and remember that college courses may be more difficult than what you remember in high school. Pace yourself and get work done early. Take advantage of internships, study abroad programs, and community service activities. Join a club, pledge a sorrority or fraterni-ty! Make the best of your years at college-the sky is the limit!

So you’ve made your de-cision about college. You sent in your deposit, you’ve con-firmed your enrollment, and now only a few months are left before your first day at a big new school. Now what? While it may seem like the only thing left to do is count down the days, many seniors have A LOT to take care of before they can start their life on a new campus. Here’s the checklist!

1. Graduate.Even though the acceptance letters have already arrived, it’s important to make sure that you finish out the year the same way you started it. Keep your grades up, and pass those senior exams! Colleges will be asking for the final report on your grades and attendance record, so be sure to send that in to them. Don’t let seniori-tus keep you from going to the university of your choice. Re-member that some institutions expect your final grade point average to be no less than a C. Also, try to spend your last days in schools making sure you’ve applied for all grants and scholarships available!

2. Transfer AP cred-its and enroll in classes.Before you enroll in classes, make sure that you aren’t tak-ing any more required courses than neccesary. If you received a 3 or higher on advanced placement exams, you may be eligible for college credit. Some schools will only accept 4s and 5s as credit, and others don’t recogize certain AP courses for any credit. Research to find out your school’s policy on AP credit, and get those scores mailed out! Before you enroll you’ll also want to take college placement tests for classes such as math and foreign lan-guage. Maybe you can place out of mathematics at your university! These placement tests will most likely be avail-able at freshman orientation or on your school’s website.

3. Find a roommate.Once you confirm that you are going to a school, it’s time to apply for housing. If you don’t already have a friend in mind

volume 5 Senior Edition page 4

Overview of Senior year

By Joe Daniel

Senior year is the most awaited and prestigious year in grade school. For Northern Guilford High School it will be their first experience with a school historic first class of grad-uating seniors. Many Night-hawks seniors enjoyed their year, others not so much, for some it was just another year, but many had a voice of opinion.“It was fun and stressful at the s a m e t i m e , ” s a i d M a t t Farris. On the o t h e r h a n d B r i e W e l c h stated, “It was too long a n d t h e r e was a lot of work . ” It’s not surpr is -ing that most stu-dents ex-pected a more re-laxed year with more privileges. And why not? We’ve put up with stress-ful projects and mind throbbing deadlines. Some sort of a break wouldn’t have been a bad idea.Around 98 percent of se-niors agreed that off campus lunches would be a great priv-iledge this year. Also getting out of class and even school a couple minutes early was a good thought from some.“We deserved more free-dom, I felt like we were kind of treated like fresh-man,” said Josh Simmons.Senior year comes with a lot of suprises and some upsets. Even though some expecteta-tions were not met this year, there were some highlights this year for some students.There was a Mr. Nothern com-petition that conisisted of a fashion show, dancing, and

many more features, which was used to raise money for seniors.“Being part of Mr. North-ern was a big highlight of my senior year,” said Ryan Herbin. “I didn’t expect to be part of the competition this year, but it was a great experience,” added Farris. Everyone who came to watch “Mr. Northern” seemed to enjoy it. Also all the seniors that participated in the com-petition had a great time.

For many students sports are a big rea-son they come to s c h o o l . By the time you are a se-nior, that might be the only r e a s o n , but at the same time it is their last year,

at least in grade school, be-fore they head off to college and con-

tinue their sports ambitions.Josh Simmons stated, “It was sad but great. At the same time it was great knowing that I ran things. It was bittersweet.” Being a senior comes with a lot of responsibilities, and it is also a big step with the tran-sition from high school to col-lege. Scholarships are sought after, and so are getting ac-cepted to the perfect college.“A big highlight of my year was getting accepted to Johnson & Wales, because I want my career to be in culinary. Plus the ladies love a dude who can cook and is fly like me,” says Scotty Bonds.Chris Page adds, “I have my eyes set on either Appala-chian State or Miami Univer-sity so I can play football.”

Pictured above is the senior

float from the homecoming

parade..

If you’ve driven on to Northern’s campus late-ly, you’ve probably noticed the enormous purple rock right in front of the main en-trance. Much like Northwest Guilford and many other local high schools, we now have a rock dedicated to the senior class. The seniors of student council asked Mr.Laine in July for per-mission to donate the rock. “It was meant to be a gigantic billboard for student organi-zations,” stated Mrs.Farber. Some may think of it as just a rock, but this rock wasn’t cheap. Stu-d e n t c o u n c i l spent six-teen hun-dred dol-lars on the rock’s t r a n s -p o r t a -tion and p l a c e -m e n t . Senior reactions to the rock varied. “I think it’s cool. The colors [painted] on it re-ally don’t match the school, but it’s a nice way to leave a mark,” said senior Dorien Patterson. Senior Zipporah Ham-mond agreed and added, “I think the rock is okay. We could do with or without it, but it looks nice.” “I like the thought. It was a great idea; however, it’s just kind of there. It’s a distraction,” said senior Kierstin Bethea. “I actually think the rock looks fine,” stated se-nior Gerard Castagnet. “Nice idea, nice legacy to leave, but what is its purpose?” Asked senior Ariana Randene.

Some people think the purpose is so that seniors, and other students can have a voice and express themselves in an artistic way to everyone at school. This could mean painting a sort of ‘shout out’ on the rock. Others see it as a way for students to keep each other up to date about what is going on around Northern. The official word from student council regarding its purpose is as follows: “Student council wants to use the rock as a device to build and inform the school community about what is going on at NGHS; it was never intended to be a place for individuals to paint graf-

fiti or personal messag-es,” said student

council ad-visor Rob-in Farber.S t u d e n t council is the govern-ing body over the rock, so they have the author-

ity over what gets painted onto the rock. If a club or a sports team needs an important announce-ment that they want paint-ed onto the rock, they would have to contact Mrs. Farber.This “senior gift” is a way for seniors to leave their mark on Northern, not just by paint-ing the rock, but by having a symbol of the first gradu-ating class here at North-ern for many years to come.“I hope the seniors realize that their rock will be standing here as long as the school is stand-ing. Next year’s senior class will have a hard time topping the contribution of the senior class of 2010,” stated Mrs.Farber.

Senior rockBy TeAsia Clack

decent, you can also receive scholarships for being things like the school mascot or being left-handed.The Northern Guilford Night-hawk, Jordan Woods, received a scholarship for being the Nighthawk. He received $1,000 for being one of the many mascots at surrounding schools.For students like the fore mentioned Brandon May-field, there are scholarships available for actual academic achievements. Some of those scholarships range from amounts of $100-$72,000.One of the highest ranged scholarships was awarded to senior Morgan Hoyle. She received a scholarship to not only 1 college but 3 colleges. The first college she received a scholarship to was the high-est scholarship awarded to a Northern Guilford student. She received $72,000 to the University of Dallas, $13,000-15,000 to Bel-mont Abbey, and $7,000 per year to St. Leo Universi-ty. She hasn’t yet accepted a scholarship to one of these schools.The main chunk of scholarships was awarded to students that are plan-ning on at-tending on private colleges. Some of the private colleges in North Carolina can sometimes have tuitions of $50,000+. With the high tuition most of the schools award scholar-ships to help out with the financial need.Northern students Kelsey Dann and Juliet Shamshoum were awarded scholarships to Lenoir Rhyne University is a private university with a very high tuition. They both re-ceived scholarships of $32,000. “I was really excited”, said Juliet and Kelsey when asked what their expression was when they found out they had received scholarships from

volume 5 Senior Edition page 5

Silent Protesters Speak up For Civility

On April 17th, the Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) held a day of silent protest by wear-ing red t-shirts and vowing an entire day of silence to raise awareness and show support for the Lesbian Gay Bi-s e x u a l a n d T r a n s -g e n d e r ( L G B T ) c o m -munity. The “Day of Si-lence” at N o r t h -ern was o r g a -n i z e d by the Gay-Straight Alliance Club with the intent to use meth-ods of passive resistance to create awareness for the is-sue of inequality between the sexual orientation and the prejudice and bullying that ac-company it within high school.The “Day of Silence” has been an annual protest that stu-dents have been participat-ing in since 1996 when it be-gan in Virginia University. Northern marked its first-ev-er protest with a great start. Coordinating uniforms, a vow of silence and a spread-ing of information with pa-pers, flyers and posters all occurred within the day. When protest-participant ju-nior Hannah Burt was asked why she took part in the Day of Silence she replied, “I par-ticipated because I believe that everyone should be treated equally and that no one should be treated differently because of their orientation. We have to stand up and say that it’s not okay.”

Advisor to GSA and English teacher Ms. Latta’s purpose of participating in the protest was slightly different. Latta answered she participated to let people know that there’s a place and a group who they can confide in.GSA President Reid Drake related that his purpose for being part of

the move-ment was to “give a voice to those who d i d n ’ t have one” and allow students to “be com-f o r t a b l e with who they are and know that there are people to support t h e m . ”

Although the purpose for participa-tion varied, commitment and pride seemed to remain high within the day. The general conclusion of the participants was positive, re-lating that people gave them both respect and a desire to learn more about their cause.

“I felt privileged on the day of silence and honored to be supporting other students and a wonderful cause,” se-nior Kyle Moye stated.

Sophomore Alex Hanf stated he thought the Silent Protest went “fairly well” and received “a lot of questions about it”.Junior Tayler Simonds stated, “I thought the day of silence was successful. I believe the form of protest was especially interesting because of its sym-bolic representation and that my overall experience was positive, although it was much more difficult than I expected to stay silent for the entire day.”

their colleges.Other nominees of scholar-ships to private colleges in-cluded Patrick Kane, who will recieve$7,500 a year to Gard-ner Webb University.The other chunks of the scholarships were awarded to students from out-of-state col-leges and universities.Senior Jeff Phillion, who will be attending the farthest away college was awarded a schol-arship to Michigan Tech for $1,000.Another senior Sarah Apple was awarded two scholar-ships outside North Carolina. Her first scholarship was to Virginia Commonwealth in Roanoke, Virginia. The second out-of-state scholarship was the Woodrow Scholars Award at the University of South Carolina. This scholarship is $11,000 per year. “I cried when I received the VCU scholar-ship, I was really surprised”,

said Sarah Apple.She will attend VCU in the fall. Not only were there academic scholarships awarded to North-ern Guilford seniors, there were a few ath-letic scholarships awarded. Molly Tahmaseb, was awarded an ath-letic scholarship to Hollins Univer-sity in Roanoke, Virginia for bas-ketball.Another Northern athlete that re-

ceived a scholarship was wide receiver, Keenan Allen. He will be attending the Univer-sity of California at Berkley on a football scholarship. Fellow teammate, Matt Pharris will be attending Campbell Uni-versity for football under his scholarship.These are just a few of the scholarships students have received at Northern this year. Every little bit of scholarship money can help. Even little scholarships like the scholar-ship awarded to our mascot, Jordan Woods can go a long way in helping to pay for col-lege.

Scholarships continuedby Abby Willcox

Senior Jordan Woods re-

cieved a schoarship for

being the school mascot.

volume 5 Senior Edition page 6

Ever since Northern was first formed as a school- even one without its own campus- the class of 2010 has been on top. Starting out the 2007-2008 school year, this year’s se-niors were the oldest of Northern’s grade levels even as sophomores. Without any real upperclassmen to speak of and a modest school popu-lation of around 450, many tenth graders turned to the freshmen they normally would have scorned.

And this feeling isn’t some imag-ined connection of pretentious elev-enth graders. Many seniors share the view that this year’s seniors have less of a distinction between the grades than they would have if they had at-tended a more established school.

So what are the juniors to do once the seniors have gone, leav-ing them to spend their final year of high school without their old-er friends? Both classes are left wondering about the dilemma.

“What are juniors going to do once we’re all gone?” wonders se-nior Philippe Blanchette. “I mean, who is going to run the place?”

“I’m going to miss the seniors so much! I mean, it was just our two classes at first and now they’re leav-

ing. It’s kind of like they’re aban-doning us,” says junior Pauleena Le.

While the class of 2011 may la-ment the loss of the class above them, the twelfth graders tend not to quail as much at the thought of leaving Northern for good.

Seniors are, as guidance coun-selor Ms. Camp puts it, “ready to get out the got-durn house.” Col-lege dorm rooms and on-campus apartments await many college-bound seniors, students having already received their letters and made their final commitments. They’re looking to the future- but not before looking back on the past.

Most of this year’s senior class spent their first year of high school at either Northeast or Northwest, both established schools that had all four grades when Northern was still under contruction. When they made the switch to Northern after their freshmen year, they ended up in trail-ers on their old schools’ campuses.

This, of course, contributed to some resentment and eventually rivalry between the new and old schools, particularly between Northwest and Northeast. This rivalry has con-tinued through the years and will continue to have a lasting influ-ence on future Northern students.

First senior class leaves its mark.

by Jordan Iddings

Start a recycling program at your school Car pool Use public transportation Use e-mail instead of paper correspondence

Change incandescent bulbs to �uorescent bulbs Use both sides of the paper Plant a tree Buy rechargeable batteries for devices used frequently

Here is what you can do:

ThinkGreen [[

If every person takes one small step toward being more conscientious of the environment, the collective effort will change the planet.

Fill all the blank squares with the correct numbers. In a 9 by 9 square Sudoku game:

* Every row of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order* Every column of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order* Every 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by 9 square must in-clude all digits 1 through 9

Sudoku

volume 5 Senior Edition page 7

volume 5 Senior Edition page 8