The Circuit

BY PAULA MARTINS

Student Spotlight is a recurring segment that showcases a student every month who is selected randomly, in order to illustrate that every student has a story. Paula Martins, staff writer for The Circuit, was waiting inside of the cafeteria to question the third person that walked in. Martins interviewed his for this month’s profile.

When senior Luis Fernandez was 6 years old, he experienced the first of six school transfers that would continue while he was growing up due to family circumstances. Instead of viewing this negatively, Fernandez said he never let it interfere with his positive outlook on life.

“My last switch to Cypress junior year was definitely the best,” he said.

Fernandez has attended two elementary schools, one middle school and three high schools, all in Florida.

“After spending my freshman year at Western High School, switching to virtual school as a sophomore was by far the worst because I felt so cut off from my friends and the world,” he said.

Fernandez said he had a tough time adjusting to the pros and cons of virtual school.

“The only good thing about Virtual School was the flexible hours,” Fernandez said. “I might get annoyed by having to wake up early every day for public school, but I’d pick having the company of some good, funny teachers and friends instead of taking my classes in isolation every day.”

Although he was not able to see his friends often, he said it was not difficult for him to keep in touch with them through the use of social networking sites and sporadic social gatherings.

“Even though I didn’t stay close with all of my friends from the past, I managed to maintain some great friendships,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez said his personality played a big role in the way he coped with each new school.

“Starting over at each school wasn’t too difficult,” Fernandez said. “Considering that I can get along with pretty much anyone, it was easy making new friends and keeping ones from my previous years in other schools.”

As Fernandez approaches graduation and adulthood, he is thankful for his experience throughout the years.

“I learned about the importance of social interaction and getting my priorities straight, two essential elements I will use in my life,” he said.

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Student Spotlight is a recurring segment that showcases a student every month who is selected randomly, in order to illustrate that every student has a story. Anna Schifter, staff writer for The Circuit, was walking out of Student Affairs as junior Erika Parjus walked in. Schifter interviewed her for this month’s profile. 

BY ANNA SCHIFTER

Even with karate classes five times a week, junior Erika Parjus never gets tired of the sport.  Starting at the age of 7, Parjus said she immediately fell in love with it.

“When my family first moved from Venezuela to Miami, my mom had signed my brother and I up for karate classes in our neighborhood,” Parjus said. “About three years after we moved to Weston, my dad found my current karate school, Asaka Karate School.”

Parjus began karate competitively at the age of 7. Since then, she has competed in over 50 competitions and acquired a medal count of 40. Competing has allowed her to meet people from all over the world.

“Ironically, competing is how you make friends in karate,” Parjus said. “I’ve met athletes from Japan all the way to Australia to Venezuela and then some. Personally, competing with friends is a win-win because it makes me want to try much harder to beat them. But if they win, we’re all happy our team managed to snag another medal.”

Parjus, who is a black belt in karate, said she still has more to learn, and there is always room for improvement. She said she believes karate never ends.

“Karate, in every sense of the word, is a challenge,” Parjus said.  “Many people assume that once you have a black belt in karate, you’ve mastered everything you could possibly know about the sport. Once you get your black belt, that’s when you really start to learn the essentials of karate. Not to mention, the sense of accomplishment I get from changing belts is completely indescribable.”

Parjus said that karate is a great way to relieve stress in a controlled environment.

“I plan on opening my own karate school during college because karate is something that I’ve used as an escape from a stressful day at school and I feel like others should have that opportunity as well,” Parjus said.

Senior Jessica Bukstel, who also attends the Asaka Karate School, said the dojo they both attend can be considered a family because they are all so close.

“I’ve known Erika for about five years now and I know she really enjoys karate,” Bukstel said. “It’s a sport that she loves probably because she loves the people who do it as well. That has a big impact.”

Bukstel, who started karate at the age of 8, said the love of the sport and all of the people that help support her is also what drives Parjus to do better.

“It’s also a really fun environment that just makes us happy,” Bukstel said. “You can walk in angry and leave with a smile. To become great, to push so hard and finally be rewarded, is something that no amount of money could buy.”

Parjus and Bukstel both agree that their teammates are extremely supportive of one another.

“When I lose, I get really disappointed with myself for about a good five minutes, but then my teammates are always there to cheer me up and offer me suggestions for the next time I face the same opponent,” Parjus said.

Parjus said for people looking to learn karate, not to be afraid of the intimidation of the sport.

“Karate is one of the best possible sports out there as it combines the relaxation of yoga with the adrenaline pumping moves of kick-boxing,” Parjus said. “It’s a great way to make connections internationally and make some of the best friendships in the world.”

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BY TAYLOR FELLMAN

It was only a few years ago that junior Kat MacNeal realized her passion for track and cross country. Although MacNeal’s first passion was soccer, she renewed her love for running when she joined the track team at Falcon Cove Middle School.

“I started running on the track team in eighth grade,” she said. “I became really big on track, and soon decided that I wanted to try cross country.”

MacNeal ran just track during her freshmen year at the Bay and as a sophomore decided to join the cross-country team in addition to track in her sophomore year. Ever since then she said that she has loved every minute of it. Cross-country season goes from summer to the end of November, and track season from January to May, keeping her running throughout the year.

“You can definitely see her dedication to running,” said junior Sophia Fonseca, who is MacNeal’s teammate. “She balances her schedule really well.”

MacNeal said she really enjoys spending time with her team, as well as training.

“Cross country is more about family. My best friends do cross country, and my life wouldn’t be the same without it,” she said.

The cross-country team practices every day, six days a week, for up to two hours, except Sundays. This amount of time and training has led MacNeal to many accomplishments, including placing first in four of the five cross-country meets this season, seventh in the district and ninth in the region.

“She makes the team,” sophomore teammate Harmony Grace said. “Without her, we would be nowhere. She is the one who has gotten our team to where we are today.”

Grace said that not only is MacNeal a stand-out runner, but she is also one of her closest friends.

“We really have all bonded as a team, because we treat each other like family,” she said. “Our team is our family, and we work and succeed together, as a team.”

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