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Interests, Passions, Magnificent Obsessions: Jazz pianist, senior
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Passion: jazz piano
“Music is a big part of my life. I played classical music for many years, but when I learned about jazz at a music camp I went to in the summer before 8th grade, it really excited me. The instructors there told us that if we loved music, we might consider pursuing it as a profession.
Wynton Marsalis’s Essentially Ellington competition in New York.I’m excited to be working on music and aiming for a career as a musician. My hope right now is to get into a good music school and get a scholarship. I want to develop my own musicianship, and I want to play with like-minded musicians who share my ambitions.”
Interests, Passions, Magnificent Obsessions: Photographer & scientist, senior
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Passions: science, photography
Interests: diversity, dance, writing, languages
with kids as a volunteer. I love kids, and I love science.
Rahee means traveler in Urdu and Hindi. It’s a piece of fate, from the time I was little, and it’s come true.”
Self-portrait: Rahee Nerurkar
Interests, Passions, Magnificent Obsessions: Dedicated to community service, 10th grade
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Passion: community service
Interests: basketball, health care
m believes that you should give as much as you can to others who don’t have as much as you do. She’s instilled that into me. Lots of people have more than me, but I have something I can give back to others.
o houses, and there’s debris everywhere, compared to the wealthier areas, which are almost completely redone. It was hard to see.I’d like to be a physician’s assistant. You don’t have to go to medical school, and there are a lot of programs. I want to work in an inner-city hospital and clinic where there’s less access to health care and fewer doctors."
What to Read During Winterim & Spring Break
We’ve got some great new titles…
At last! You’ve got some free time, and we’ve got some great new titles as well as some old friends. Here’s an overview of just a few of the new arrivals:
Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime, by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin
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If you followed the Obama/McCain election with interest, you’ll love this zippy read. Described by a reporter for the Associated Press as “the hottest book in the country,” (http://tiny.cc/dXAYC)Game Change will make the members of the History department giddy with excitement. The book is based on numerous interviews with the political teams and candidates, with some dialogue invented to help get inside the heads of the participants. It’s a book that falls somewhere between fact and fiction, and it’ll feed your curiosity.
Food Rules, by Michael Pollan
At last, a wise, commonsense little book by a well-respected writer about food. Pollan's advice is at times hilarious: "It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car." Another chapter quips, "Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food." This is a quick, bracing little book.
Secrets of Eden, by Chris Bohjalian
Do you relish a good murder mystery? According to a reviewer for Booklist, Bohjalian "drops bombshell clues...and weaves subtle nuances of doubt and intrigue into a taut, read-in-one-sitting murder mystery." ( http://tiny.cc/zSP5M )
Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld
Into Steampunk lit? School Library Journal writes,"This is World War I as never seen before. The story begins the same: on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated, triggering a sequence of alliances that plunges the world into war. But that is where the similarity ends. This global conflict is between the Clankers, who put their faith in machines, and the Darwinists, whose technology is based on the development of new species. After the assassination of his parents, Prince Aleksandar's people turn on him. Accompanied by a small group of loyal servants, the young Clanker flees Austria in a Cyklop Stormwalker, a war machine that walks on two legs. Meanwhile, as Deryn Sharp trains to be an airman with the British Air Service, she prays that no one will discover that she is a girl. She serves on the Leviathan, a massive biological airship that resembles an enormous flying whale and functions as a self-contained ecosystem. When it crashes in Switzerland, the two teens cross paths, and suddenly the line between enemy and ally is no longer clearly defined. The ending leaves plenty of room for a sequel, and that's a good thing because readers will be begging for more. Enhanced by Thompson's intricate black-and-white illustrations, Westerfeld's brilliantly constructed imaginary world will capture readers from the first page. Full of nonstop action, this steampunk adventure is sure to become a classic." (http://tiny.cc/YdHr3 ).
Cheever, by Blake Bailey
This new biography is receiving enthusiastic reviews from a wide range of critics. John Updike writes for the New Yorker, "A triumph of thorough research and unblinkered appraisal." Publishers Weekly exclaims that "This Ovid in Ossining, who published 121 stories in the New Yorker as well as several bestselling novels, has probably yet to find a definitive position in American letters among academicians. This thoroughly researched and heartfelt biography may help redress that situation." ( http://tiny.cc/dBBkw)
Get Me Out! A History of Childbirth from the Garden of Eden to the Sperm Bank,by Randi Hutter Epstein
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The cover will make you laugh, but the contents will give you the shivers. Health care and obstetrics have come a very long way over the centuries. Kirkus Reviews describes the book as “[A] sharp, sassy history of childbirth…. The author’s engaging sarcasm, evident even in a caption of an illustration of an absurd obstetric contraption—’Nineteenth-century Italian do-it-yourself forceps. The fad never took off’—lends this chronicle a welcome punch and vitality often absent from medical histories. Roll over, Dr. Lamaze, and make room for Epstein’s eyebrow-raising history.” (http://tiny.cc/IsMzt)
Stop by, and we'll help you find something to enjoy over the break. --Sue
Interests, Passions, Magnificent Obsessions: Community leader, senior
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Passions: community leadership, environment
Interests: Japan, food, running, Tae Kwan Do
“I am a co-leader of three groups: the Japanese Culture Club, the Environmental Club, and the Baking Club. I’ve been taking Japanese since 7th grade and have been to Japan twice. Joining the Environmental Club seemed a natural expression of my interest in environmental issues, especially pertaining to food. I eat less meat, garden, cook for my family, and buy organic or local food. For the International Day of Climate Change, other Environmental Club members joined me on a zero-carbon outdoor program trip to the Columbia Gorge, traveling on MAX and bicycles.
I love what I have right now. I love baking, I love Japan, and I love Catlin Gabel. I don’t do what I do just to look good on college applications. People stress too much—I know I will go to college and make it great, wherever I go.”
Interests, Passions, Magnificent Obsessions: Robotics engineeer, junior
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Passions: robotics, engineering
Interest: oldies music
“Robotics is my consuming passion. I’ve taken it upon myself to learn every job on our robotics team to see how they interrelate. Knowing how everything fits together is a huge advantage in figuring out more quickly what part is broken.
I would like to work in mechanical engineering, and I am interested in the automotive field. But I don’t want to work for a big company. My dream is to work for another company at first and then create my own start-up."
Interests, Passions, Magnificent Obsessions: Synchronized swimmers, 10th grade & 7th grade
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Passions: Synchronized swimming
Interests: rock & mountain climbing, dance, gymnastics
K: “When I was 7, I took a synchronized swimming class and they asked me to be on the team. When my sister was 6 she came to watch me practice and by the end, the coach had her in the water. Synchronized swimming became a passion for both of us. Competition is really fun. We both make friends from all over the country and sometimes the world.
K: Catlin Gabel’s arts program, especially theater, has helped me realize how I can better get across emotions, which is important in our sport. I’ve learned dedication, focus, and good time management from synchronized swimming, and that really helps me here in school, too.”
Interests, Passions, Magnificent Obsessions: Tango & aerial dancer, 10th grade
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Passions: aerial dance, tango
“I started aerial dance classes in 2nd grade and now perform with AWOL, Aerial Without Limits. I love aerial dance because it’s creative, and I love music and combining it with movement in trying to convey a message. I particularly like to choreograph: I listen to music and imagine movements for a long time before I feel ready to put it together and try it out with my peers. I also like that it is a physical form of art— it takes strength a
nd skill, and I have to constantly challenge myself. I see myself doing things I never thought I could.I also love tango. I’m going to Argentina this summer to study tango. I will also work with an aerial dance company to learn their style of aerial dance, which uses bungee cords. I am interested in how to creatively combine the two kinds of dance. I love both of these arts for similar reasons. Musicality—it’s fun to play with music, and tango is all improvised. You’re silent when you dance in tango or aerial, but there’s a lot of connection.”
Interests, Passions, Magnificent Obsessions: Scout, community enthusiast, 10th grade
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Passions: Scouting, campus cross country trail bridge project
Interests: piano, cross country, golf, mock trial
“I transferred to Catlin Gabel last year. I love the beautiful campus and the friendly community here. There’s so much here that I enjoy being involved with, including clubs, sports, and extracurriculars in general. I decided to do my Eagle Scout project for the Catlin Gabel campus. Grounds crew supervisor Mike Wilson gave me permission to replace the eroding cross country bridge at the northeast side of campus (uphill from the track and field).
The dirt bridge needed work because it was eroding and had no basic structure. Construction of the new bridge took me and 20 fellow Scouts almost eight hours. We replaced the old bridge with boulders, drainage rock, and concrete, which will stop the erosion and provide a flatter surface for the runners.I love so much about Scouting, which I’ve been doing since 1st grade. I mostly like it because of the outings we do, which I learn a lot from. I’ve also made plenty of lasting friendships with other Scouts. As the senior patrol leader, I’m in charge of my troop from this fall until early spring. I’ll stay involved for a couple more years, till I’m 18, which is the age limit for Scouts. Scouting has taught me to do my best in everything I do, and to lead others by example.”
Interests, Passions, Magnificent Obsessions: Installation artist, senior
From the Winter 2010 Caller
Passions: creating art installations, outdoor exploration
Interest: track & field
“For my first art project I hung an old picture frame with a picture of a galaxy set into it on the big, inviting blank wall of the science building, hung to appear like a window of the building itself. Another time I set up a spider’s web of wires, with tin can phones on the ends, connecting six trees in the campus forest. You could hear the sounds of the trees groaning in the wind through the wires.
places every day.Sometimes something clicks and I think about an idea a lot. The vast majority of ideas I come up with are things I’ll never do, but that’s not an unfortunate thing. Is that art? Thinking about it, for me, is as important as the actual creation.”
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