Senior Spotlight

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Senior Spotlight:

Beck Coxhead:

What colleges are you applying to? UGA, Auburn, Clemson, GT and Furman.
What were you involved with in high school? Cross Country, swimming, soccer, Atlanta mission trips, peer leadership, freshman girls Bible study and honor council.
Who was your first Wesleyan crush? When? Glenn Hogan in 1st grade.
What is your most embarrassing moment? In 8th grade, I was at Marist for a dive meet, and in the middle of the meet I really had to go to the bathroom. Once I was done and flushed the toilet, the whole thing started to overflow. I ran outside so that I could get away only to realize that it was my turn to dive again. Now knowing what I was doing, I failed my dive.
What is one thing you wish you had done in high school? Played basketball or taken forensics.
What is the theme song to your life? “Like a Boss” by Lonely Island
If you could be any faculty member, who would you be? Why? Coach McDaniel has a pretty cool job. He gets to teach peer leadership and he coaches Cross Country which is one of my favorite sports.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? An endless supply of Breyers Oreo ice cream, an endless supply of apples and my friends.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? Married with some kids living in Clarkston and working as a teacher and calling Ellie Bradach everyday.
Assuming you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your remaining hours? I would go bungee jumping somewhere cool, and then spend the rest of the day hanging out with my friends and eating all the ice cream I could.

Jeffery Willis:

What colleges are you applying to? UNC, UGA and Clemson.
What were you involved with in high school? Swim team.
Who was your first Wesleyan crush? When? Maggie Hanaklau in 2nd grade (contraty to popular belief that it was Sophia Strickland in Kindergarten or Lily Wu in 3rd grade).
What is your most embarrassing moment? The summer before junior year, I was coaching summer league swim team and the little boys always thought it was funny to “pants” me when I had my Speedo on underneath my swim trunks. During one of the meets, I was talking to three moms on the team while weaing only my trunks (no Speedo or shirt), an an 8-year-old boy of one of the moms came up behind me and ripped my suit all the way down to my ankles.
What is one thing you wish you had done in high school? Continued my football career.
What is the theme song to your life? “Break the Law” by Mac Miller.
If you could be any faculty member, who would you be? Why? Mr. Connor because his grammar is impeccable.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? My mini-wiener dog Bella, unlimited Coke Zero and unlimited chia seeds.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? I want to be doing my medical residency and married with a weiner dog.
Assuming you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your remaining hours? I would go to the beach with my family and all my closest friends.

Kendall Dearth:

What colleges are you applying to? Samford, Auburn and Furman.
What were you involved with in high school? Track, Young Life, Bible studies and attempted to swim for a season and cross country.
Who was your first Wesleyan crush? When? Clint Prettyman. We carpooled freshman year and it was love at first sight (even though we never talked on the rides to school).
What is your most embarrassing moment? In Mr. Cleveland’s WWII class, we do trivia for the first couple minutes of class each day. I was oddly obsessed with goldfish during the time and thought it would be funny to make a goldfish trivia for the class to do. I thought it was hilarious, but everyone just looked at me and I got made fun of for a while.
What is one thing you wish you had done in high school? Gone to Crooked Creek Ranch with Young Life.
What is the theme song to your life? “Firework” by Katy Perry.
If you could be any faculty member, who would you be? Why? Coach White because she lives a pretty nice life. She gets to sleep in and really only comes to school during practices.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? Unlimited supply of Chick Fila sweet tea, music and a hammock.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? Traveling the world, maybe riding elephants in Thailand.
Assuming you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your remaining hours? For sure go swim with the Killer Whales/Ocras at Sea World. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine and hey I know the Orcas at Sea World have a tendency to kill people, but I mean if I only have 24 hours to live why not.

Cole Mannion:

What colleges are you applying to? Samford, Mercer, Lehigh, Clemson, Auburn and Rhodes.
What were you involved with in high school? Football, Baseball, Model Arab League, Student Government and Young Life.
Who was your first Wesleyan crush? When? Ashlee Fincher in Kindergarten. We kissed in the bushes.
What is your most embarrassing moment? I only scored two points in my entire seventh grade basketball season.
What is one thing you wish you had done in high school? Taken AP physics. It seems really fun and easy.
What is the theme song to your life?  “Freeze” by Zac Brown Band.
If you could be any faculty member, who would you be? Why? Josh Smith because he has an entire room to himself, which gives him room for activities.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? Miss Barbra the lunch lady, Wild Berry Skittles and God’s Blog.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? Making my living as an NFL agent with a family and a golden retriever.
Assuming you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your remaining hours? Spend time with my friends and family, and then go run around on the field at a sporting event. and see how long I can run around without being caught.

Jenny VanLeake:

What colleges are you applying to? GT, UGA, Auburn and Columbia.
What were you involved with in high school? Volleyball, tennis, senior class officer, ambassador, Lit Mag, Prom Com, Hand in Hand and freshman senior Bible study.
Who was your first Wesleyan crush? When? Jeffery Willis in 5th grade.
What is your most embarrassing moment? When I choked on water and threw up in English class in middle school. Because I was actually sick and my parents were at my sisters’ tennis match a couple hours away, I told the nurse I was fine and went back to class and of course everyone knew that I had thrown up. It was horrible.
What is one thing you wish you had done in high school? I wish I had some sort of acting/musical ability so I could have been in a play.
What is the theme song to your life?  “Crazy” by Ben Rector.
If you could be any faculty member, who would you be? Why? Mrs. Morris because she is awesome and she has a plethora of interesting stories about any topic.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? A small plane, and instruction guide for flying a plane and a very accurate GPS.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? I want to have job that I enjoy, which happens to never require me to be awake before 9 AM. I also want to be on the way to having a family.
Assuming you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your remaining hours? Probably spend a majority of it trying to decide how to spend those 24 hours. Then, I would spend time with my family and friends and do things like go skydiving and scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef.

William Schneider:

What colleges are you applying to? UGA, Auburn, UNC, Clemson and UVA.
What were you involved with in high school? Lacrosse, Young Life, Young Mens Service Leauge, DC United.
Who was your first Wesleyan crush? When? Carmen Mindt, Kindergarten.
What is your most embarrassing moment? Getting on the Kiss Cam at the Braves game four times in the same game.
What is one thing you wish you had done in high school? Water Polo.
What is the theme song to your life? “Stressed Out” by Twenty One Pilots
If you could be any faculty member, who would you be? Why? Dr. G because he is incredibly smart and an amazing teacher.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? Some water, a fishing pole, and SAGE dining services.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? I hope to be married and have a successful career.
Assuming you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your remaining hours? Spend time with my closest friends and family.

Olivia Larner:

What colleges are you applying to? Vanderbilt, Furman, Washington University, Baylor and Northwestern.
What were you involved with in high school? Theatre, NCL, lacrosse and lacrosse managing, Vet club, and a glorious one year of softball.
Who was your first Wesleyan crush? When? Christopher Walton and Shelton Gotlich in pre-first.
What is your most embarrassing moment? When Maddie Frye broke my bra during Beauty and the Beast in 6th grade.
What is one thing you wish you had done in high school? Tried out for cheerleading, not actually done it, just tried out.
What is the theme song to your life?  “Don’t Stop the Music” by Rihanna.
If you could be any faculty member, who would you be? Why? Mrs. Grogan because she is amazing at science.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? A helicopter, a pilot, and lots of fuel. I don’t like deserted islands.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? I will be fresh out of medical school and starting my residency. I will have a really cute doctor boyfriend who will go on medical mission trips with me.
Assuming you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your remaining hours? Eat lots of sushi and hang out with my friends and family and probably freak out.

Joey Gaddis:

What colleges are you applying to? Ole Miss, Valdosta State, Georgia Southern and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
What were you involved with in high school? JV football, Young Life, Cross Country, wrestling, track & field and rocketry club.
Who was your first Wesleyan crush? When? Madison parks.
What is your most embarrassing moment? Hard to say, I don’t really show much embarassment.
What is one thing you wish you had done in high school? I wish I had participated in water polo just for the heck of it.
What is the theme song to your life? Either “Trouble On My Mind” by Pusha T ot “Touch of Grey” by the Grateful Dead, depends on the day I have.
If you could be any faculty member, who would you be? Why? Chad McDaniel because he’s a great guy and coach, plus everybody loves hearing his voice on their answering machines at 6:30am saying school is closed for the day due to snow.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? My eno, my iPod with Spotify premium and the Catcher and the Rye.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? Having a well-paying job while raising my 9-year-old.
Assuming you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your remaining hours? I would hang out with my friends and family for a few hours and then road trip to my beach condo and enjoy the last few hours sitting in a beach chair staring at the ocean.

Anna Mosley

What colleges are you applying to? UGA and Auburn.
What were you involved with in high school? Soccer, Water Polo, Swimming, Football managing, Vet Club, Young Life, mission trips and Student Led Worship.
Who was your first Wesleyan crush? When? Cole Mannion in 6th grade.
What is your most embarrassing moment? Failing my driving test 3 times or losing Maggie Borbone’s dog on the football field before the Stratford game.
What is one thing you wish you had done in high school? Cross Country one year.
What is the theme song to your life? “Anna Sun” by Walk the Moon.
If you could be any faculty member, who would you be? Why? Dr. G because he is probably the greatest man I have ever met, and everyone loves him.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? Bear Grylls, a boat and my dog Blue.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? I hope to be a happy, married veterinarian with a child and more on the way.
Assuming you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your remaining hours? After getting over the fact that I’m about to die, I would day goodbye to my family and friends then die doing something fun, but dangerous.

Cedric Lynch:

What colleges are you applying to? University of Oregon, University of Southern California, Georgia Southern, Hofstra, Lawrence and North Carolina Central.
What were you involved with in high school? Football, basketball and track & field.
Who was your first Wesleyan crush? When? Lilliana Bardi.
What is your most embarrassing moment? When I cut my hair while my parents went out of town and I had to go to school the next day knowing I messed up. However, I got a couple compliments.
What is one thing you wish you had done in high school? I wish I had gotten more involved in school club and activities.
What is the theme song to your life?  “Final Hour” by Big Sean.
If you could be any faculty member, who would you be? Why? Dr. G because he is a legend. He is loved by everyone.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want to have with you? Food, a computer with wifi and a football.
What do you hope your life will be like in 10 years? Graduated from college with a degree, have established a career whether it’s in sports, graphic design or engineering and be married.
Assuming you had 24 hours to live, what would you do with your remaining hours? First, tell everyone that I love them for the last time. Second, amend any broken relationship I had with a person or people. Third, give all my shoes away to Christian Scott and donate my clothes to others. Lastly, hold and attend my own home-going celebration to hear what everybody would have to say at my funeral.

 

 

MattyB Performs At Falcons Halftime Show

in Fine Arts/News by
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    Photo: MattyBRaps

Wesleyan student Matthew Morris, known by his stage name, MattyB, performed live at a recent Falcons game for the halftime show on the 1st of November with the help of his dance crew.  The sight was nothing short of epic, as the entire field was covered in Atlanta Falcons Junior Cheerleaders. Morris performed from a big stage at the 50-yard-line.  Commonly known as MattyB, he has accumulated quite the following on Youtube and social media, and has been working to establish a music career since a very young age.

It all started for MattyB when he was five-years-old.  One of his videos took off on YouTube and helped him gain millions of fans after getting millions of cumulative views. From strictly covering the songs of more famous artists on his Youtube channel, he moved to also creating original singles that he and his agent, Marshall, write.  He has done live concerts at some smaller venues before, including a WNBA game, but this is definetly the largest event that he has performed at.

The main takeaway is that MattyB is taking off and not coming down anytime soon.  From Youtube sensation to live performer, MattyB is moving up slow and steady in the music world.

Wesleyan Students Celebrate Christmas Traditions from Around the World

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    Many Polish people celebrate Christmas with the midnight mass service, called pasterka.
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    Traditionally, the people of Cuba use the Cajachina to cook the pig.
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    The Spring Festival is widely celebrated in China.

Why travel to different countries for Christmas when you can experience all kinds of unique Christmas traditions right here in the Wesleyan community?

The first stop is in Cuba. The Cuban festivities begin with the Parrandas which is a festival including many floats and huge fireworks. Many Cubans also attend Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, better known as “Noche Buena” in Cuba. Another important aspect of Christmas in Cuba is the food. Gabby Hernandez, who is of Cuban descent, said that on the Noche Buena, “We have the whole family go to my grandparents where my dad, uncle and grandpa cook a pig in something called a Cajachina, which is basically a big grill.” She said that they also have a family dinner with rice, black beans and bread.

The next stop is in China. According to junior Richard He, because the Chinese government does not encourage religion, Christmas is not a widely-celebrated holiday in China. He said, “My family did not do that many things during Christmas. My parents always bought me presents. Since we do not have school holidays during Christmas, we had to stay at school and study for the final. If Christmas day was on weekend, we went shopping as a family.” He said that in China, there are two New Year celebrations. The first is on Jan. 1st which follows the Western calendar. The second Chinese New Year which is in late January is called the Spring Festival.

The last stop is in Poland. One of the main Christmas traditions in Poland is the sharing of the oplatek, a thin wafer, during the Christmas Eve dinner called the Wigilia. The breaking and sharing of the oplatek symbolizes peace and prosperity to the family. In Poland, Christmas Eve is the most important day of the year because it is the day waiting for and celebrating Jesus. On this day, the women in the house start cooking for the Wigilia early in the day, while the men and children decorate the tree, the choinka, and set the table. High school English teacher, Monica Tarnawski, who is Polish American said, “Wigilia is especially important in our family, both for preparing the meal and enjoying time together. There are always twelve dishes to symbolize the twelve apostles. Examples are pierogi, fish, salad, and vegetables; no meat is consumed during this meal.” The family can only start eating the meal once the first star of the night, the gwiazdka, can be seen. Before eating, the family prays and shares the oplatek. After the meal, the family exchanges gifts and sings Christmas carols, koledy, under the tree. Then, the family goes to Midnight Mass, called pasterka.

Girls and Boys Cross Country Teams Perform Well Under Tough Conditions

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For the sixth year in a row, both the Boys’ and Girls’ Wesleyan Varsity Cross Country teams made it to the state meet. After a state championship for the boys and a runner-up finish for the girls in 2014, the runners were hungry for another solid performance. The races were held at Carrollton Elementary school on a five kilometer course under very muddy conditions. “Today we faced the toughest state course that I have ever seen. I feel like we rose to the challenge and attacked it head on,” said Head Coach Chad McDaniel.
This year, the boys finished third out of 31 schools with a fifth place finish from junior Bailey Renfroe, a 13th place finish from senior Mikey Olson, 16th from senior Henry Collins, 25th from sophomore Peter Hess and 26th from senior Clay Tyler. Times were slowed substantially by course conditions. Ahead of the Wolves were state champions from Bleckley County and runner-up finishers from Pace Academy. Collins has struggled with a back injury for the majority of the season which had a significant impact on the team. Renfroe has consistently led the team and typically finishes with sub-18 minute times.
The girls finished runner-up for the second year in a row out of 29 schools with a fourth place finish from senior Ellie Bradach, seventh place from senior Kylie Reed, 19th from senior Beck Coxhead, 20th from freshman Quinn Kaloper and 28th from junior Sophia Kidder. Lovett came in first. Solid senior leadership has been a big factor for the girls.
Wesleyan’s cross country program has consistently contended for state championships over the last 15 years, and draws enormous participation from the student body. This year, well over 100 high school students participated. McDaniel leads the team with the help of six other coaches. “I believe that we are able to compete at a high level every year because our athletes are willing to endure a great deal of pain day after day for a greater cause. They are doing it for each other,” said McDaniel.

Swim and Dive Makes Big Splash in Competition

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    Photo: Brian Morgan // Coaches Trotter and Bufton
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    Photo: Brian Morgan // Captains: Ben Buckley, Chandler Marsh, Kyle Rappe, Abby Gardner, Ellie Bradach, and Sydney Weissman

The swim team at Wesleyan is ready to take over Davidson Natatorium for the winter season once again. With large meets on the horizon and stiff opposition, head coach Kevin Kadzis knows that his team must be prepared both mentally and physically. Looking to improve on last year’s strong showing at state, the Wolves have been working hard in both the gym and pool to increase the overall endurance and strength.  Kadzis is very excited for the season. In an interview he said, “We are looking forward to a great season.” A great season it will certainly be.

Kadzis also named off a few of the key swimmers saying, “Certainly our captains will be important. Ben Buckley, Kyle Rappe, Chandler Marsh, Ellie Bradach, Sydney Weissman, and Abby Gardner.”  If this year is to be at all similar to past years, captains will play into the direction of this team.  Although talent is deep and young, the captains will have to lead their team with good attitudes and good spirit.    Senior swimmer Grant Sauer has a very interesting way of describing swimming.  The sport is difficult, and is like “riding a bike, except the bike has square wheels.”

Swimming is not meant to be easy, and all of the swimmers know that, but a love for the sport and the drive to win fuels their efforts every day. With the common goal of a state championship, the swim team know that they must be prepared to train the hardest that they ever have to achieve it. With a great senior class, the team is prepared for many records, personal bests, and Wesleyan top ten times will be broken.  Already this season there have been top ten times from Ethan Moon (500 free and 200 IM), Ben Buckley (200 Free and 200 IM), Joseph Berney (Diving), and Kate McCahan (Diving).  Although there have been many new top ten times, there will surely be more on the way as the season goes on.  Senior captain Sydney Weissman is very encouraged by how the team is looking thus far this season.  She said, “We have a lot of strong swims from younger swimmers.  It is very encouraging to see them improving so much in practice and in meets.  We are hoping to continue to see similar drops in time throughout the meets this season!”

Looking ahead on the season, the Wet Wolves will have a tough schedule with big meets against tough opponents coming up.  Big meets this season include an away meet against GAC in January, Holiday Splash Invitational against many high classification schools in early December, and the Metro Meet in January.  With large opponents, fast swims, and many lasts for the seniors, the Wet Wolves would love your support as a student body at upcoming meets and events.

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