She should know why 13 isn't an unlucky number...
Happy Saturday everyone! Hope y'all enjoyed the weather. I went down to Sarno and Son Tuxedo Rentals to get measured for a tux this afternoon, so hopefully I'll be looking stellar for prom night. Work with Matt Schilling was entertaining too. Other than that, the day has been pretty chill.
So, for my 13th senior spotlight, I focus on a girl who's going to the college that is tied with Dartmouth in the rankings for 13th in the nation. The school is known for its powerhouse lacrosse team and its superior pre-med program. It's a few hours south of here, and its mascot is similar to that of Baltimore's baseball team. That's right, she's heading to Johns Hopkins next year and she's going to be a blue jay with me. Thus, hopefully in the future, Johns Hopkins will soon also be well-known for having as a student...
Now let's see... I've known Kristine Casey since freshman year when she was in my history class. I don't remember too much from that year, but after looking through the yearbook, I recall that we at least talked a good amount online. A little inside joke came near the end of the year when she was telling me about her huge attraction to Andrew Weller and some other guys at the time, so I had remarked that she was "going through the trumpet players". Random memory, I know.
I think though I got to know her a lot more sophomore year when we had the same chemistry, study hall, concert band, and precalc/trig classes, but most importanly, homeroom together. We were two of eight sophomores that year that were a part of student council. It was probably the coolest year I had in student council. By the end of the year, I remember I had organized a petition for an IB Math Methods HL course after discussing it with Debbie Hu but more so with Kristine in homeroom.
You see, Kristine is definitely not a dumb blonde. As much as she may have grumbled in my yearbooks of the past two years ("IB = death" had been her motto apparently), she has excelled as an IB (soon-to-be) Diploma Recipient. She is quite a talented mathematician as she 7'ed her Math Methods exam last year and got the highest score of the school for the AMC 12 back in January. She aspires to major in bio-med at JHU next year, and considering the history of how she came to be in the world, it seems very fitting as she has motivation for doing so.
Most people however see her for her characteristics outside of the classroom. She's been a talented varsity soccer player all four years in high school. Often controlling the ball and directing the team play from the middle of the field, she's suffered more injuries than I've ever seen a person withstand. In addition to the occasional ankle sprain/fracture, she has suffered plenty of concussions, yet except for this spring season, she played soccer year-round. The skin of her heels will always have some sort of pink or red hue to them because of the amount of time she spends wearing soccer cleats throughout the year.
Oh, and while she was playing indoor soccer for the past two winters, she managed to be a prominent leader of the girls ski team too. I forget which race it was, but apparently she got the third best invidual time amongst a large group of people, which is definitely a major accomplishment for the fledgling squad. I'm simply impressed that she was able to manage playing both sports at once. That's something I could only dream of doing.
Kristine though is definitely a down-to-earth girl. She gets along well with a lot of people. She seemed so distraught last year as her older friends moved on to college, but she's enjoyed herself with the company of others in the meantime.
I definitely feel bad for the various times when I've clashed with her, which goes back to after Homecoming of sophomore year. She was the only person I ever asked to the Homecoming dance any year (her response was that she wasn't sure of what her plans with Jillian Clinedinst were), but the way things developed leading up to the dance and afterwards are a time I'd rather forget. She always told me her honest opinions of me and let me know why I was pissing people off (including her) when I was curious, but to some extent, I had to coerce it out of her, and I apologize for putting her in an uncomfortable position.
So Kristine, please forgive me for the stupid things I've done to you and whatever arrogance I've ever expressed around you. For any time I've ever felt hurt by what you've said or done to me, I already forgive you 6340976 times over, and your constructive criticism I definitely take to heart. I just hope that we keep in touch through college, especially considering the possibility that we may both be in Buildings A & B next year. If I ever start to miss the pleasant little town of Bernardsville, NJ, it'd be cool to be able to reminisce with someone at JHU that would actually know what I'm talking about. We'd probably be able to help each other out in introducing new people that we meet to each other, building a strong network of friends in college that we'd both enjoy having. Besides, I'm pretty sure we could tear up the inner harbor along with all the other party-ers there. I'll take the Francesca Villa approach and wipe the slate clean, and I only hope such an amazing person like you would do that too.
The blue jays will definitely fly high in the future. Peace.