It's Dinner and a Show--One Night, One Place

Kabuki’s Japanese Steak House in Christiansburg, Virginia is more than just a restaurant, it is a show. This steak house is designed for a night out on the town with family or friends giving all who enter an opportunity to experience a new way to eat. This unique restaurant is perfectly designed for groups with up to ten people celebrating anything from an anniversary to the fact that it is Friday night.

I dined at Kabuki’s on a Saturday night after a Virginia Tech football game. The restaurant was busy, but luckily and we had reservations and we did not have to wait.

At Kabuki’s, your party is seated around a large grill, where you soon find out that is where all your food is prepared, made exactly how you want it to be fixed. The waiter first got drink orders then took down the entrée order—what meat or combination you would like for dinner. I chose the filet mignon and teriyaki chicken combination. Promptly, they bring out the first course, a chicken broth soup. The soup is visually appealing because it is presented in a little bowl with an abnormal spoon, making it fun to eat.

A minute or two after the soup comes out, they proceed to bring out the salad that comes with the meal. This also is served in a small bowl, trying not to fill you up too much before the real meal comes. I got the sesame house dressing as my dressing, and I highly recommend this dressing—it is not too sweet, but still sweet with a hint of sesame.

After you finish with your soup and salad, the show begins. The chef comes out with a tray of ingredients and fills small dishes with different sauces to dip the vegetables and meats in. The chef then proceeds to do a show with his utensils. Our chef dropped his utensils a couple times and was not as interactive as some I saw, but his entertaining skills were still very impressive.

He began the grilling by making a smiley face with oil to cook the vegetables and rice. The rice cooks throughout most of the meal, being infused with flavor and warmth. Along with the vegetables, the chef cooked shrimp, which everyone received a small portion of, even if you did not order shrimp with your meal. The vegetables were finished cooking, and were served hot off the grill to our plates.

While we were eating our vegetables and rice, the chef had kept a couple pieces of shrimp aside, letting them cool off. I was curious about those few pieces of shrimp and what he was going to do with those. My curiosity was soon satisfied. Using his utensils, he tossed the food to the hungry observers, who attempted to catch the flying shrimp in their mouths. Only two out of the ten people at the table caught the shrimp, but it was very amusing and helped the guest-chef interaction.

Next came the main part of the meal—the meat. After the meat finished cooking the show was over. The chef wiped up the grill and departed from his work station to entertain another group.
The filet mignon and the chicken were both very tender and burst with indescribable flavor. This was by far the best part of the meal. Unfortunately, if you have eaten all your vegetables and rice served to you, you may be satiated by the time the meat comes, but it is so delicious that you would be crazy not to eat it.

Throughout the meal, the waiter was very attentive to our needs, refilling drinks when necessary, and making sure we did not need anything else. Also, as the courses progresses, the old dishes were cleared quickly and neatly.

Kabuki’s is a very nice restaurant to go to if you want a show with your dinner. The interior of the restaurant is visually appealing. The ceiling has stars painted on it and there is Japanese memorabilia that decorate the foyer. The atmosphere of the restaurant was an experience within itself.

For Virginia Tech students, the restaurant is only about ten minutes away from campus, but you will need a vehicle to get there. Also, Hokie Passports are accepted there, but it is a little expensive due to copious amounts of food you are given, but the little trip and the big bill is well worth it!

Volleyball Athlete Leaves a Mark

“Bump!” An experienced player plays the volleyball off his forearms and passes the ball to a teammate.

“Set!” The next player in line attempts to get under the ball to shoot the ball as straight into the air as possible to set up for the killer blow.

“Spike!” The final touch completes the sequence of hits. This hit is meant to impart as much downward force as possible. If successful, a spike is incredibly difficult to return and frequently results in a point for the team that spiked the ball.

Such was the life of Justin Shevock. Although accomplished in many areas of life, Justin’s passion lies with the sport of volleyball.

Justin was born on May 7, 1989 in Virginia Beach, VA to Debbie and George Shevock. His older brother, Bryan, acted as a role model to Justin despite a significant age difference of almost 6 years. The Shevock family has lived in the same house all of Justin’s life. He particularly remembers a playground right outside his backyard. Though the neighborhood was medium sized, Justin has fond memories of having fun all over the neighborhood.

Justin describes his parents as almost opposites. “My mom was more strict, like an overseer. She was always asking, ‘Is your homework done?’ and insisted on seeing it,” he said. He also describes his dad as, “…much more laid back. He was more relaxed than my mom.” This provided a unique balance, which Justin describes positively. He says he enjoyed his mom always watching him and ensuring he did everything he was supposed to do while his dad was not apathetic but approached life more casually.

When he was still a kid, Justin remembers the favorite hangout place being either his friend J.C.’s place or his house. “If we weren’t at my house, we were at J.C.’s house. If we weren’t at J.C.’s house, we were at my house,” Justin recalls. Some favorite forms of entertainment include building Kennex and playing video games.

Justin had all the game systems. He remembers playing, “…an original Nintendo, a Sega, and later a Nintendo 64.” And who can own a Nintendo 64 without playing Super Smash Brothers? He related to me, “of course we played Super Smash.” And who can blame him?

When pressed for a favorite childhood memory, Justin remembered his first experience snow skiing. He said he wasn’t that great, but he vividly remembers, “…my aunt holding me between her legs as we skied.” To this day his family still has a habit of skiing every winter, though Justin now snowboards.

When he wasn’t entertaining himself, Justin was attending Providence Elementary School. He later attended Kempsville Middle school and then Kempsville High School. He had been involved with sports since he was young, playing soccer, baseball, and basketball. Volleyball came later in High School.

He started playing volleyball with his parents. His parents played in a volleyball club and Justin would regularly warm up with them before their game. As he got older and older, his skills became more and more developed.

When the time came to transition to high school, Justin’s parents pushed him to join the high school team. After he made the team, he played the middle-back position. Though he did not have any specially set position until his junior year, he specifically recalls a game during his sophomore year. He said, “I remember that game like it was yesterday. It was close to the end of the game, and the score was also close. I went in to play and subsequently had 3 perfect passes.” His team went on to win the game.

The next year a new position in volleyball had been implemented. This was the position of a “Libero” or a defensive specialist. Wikipedia describes the Libero as such: “Liberos are defensive players, who are responsible for receiving the attack or serve and are usually the players on the court with the quickest reaction time and best passing skills. Libero means 'free' as they have the ability to substitute for any other player on the court during each play. Liberos wear a different color jersey than their teammates.”

Junior year Justin started playing this position. Because the Libero can substitute for any defensive person at any time, this enabled him to participate in almost every play. He excelled in this position, and also became an excellent setter. The setter “sets” the ball as described before so another player can spike it.

Justin’s volleyball career included many honorable mentions. These included him being appointed to “1^st Team All Beach” by the division coaches and “1^st Team All Tidewater” by the local newspaper, the Virginia Pilot. These mentions would be similar to being chosen for an “All-star” team.

Looking back on his high school experience, Justin said that he looked up to his volleyball coach and described him as “…a fair coach.” Another of Justin’s childhood friends, Anthony Le, said “Justin’s role model was his coach.”

When he wasn’t playing volleyball, Justin still found things to do. Anthony said, “We were good kids…We just hung out and did stupid stuff. We would laugh at things others wouldn't understand. Justin, myself, and our other best friends would go to the beach a lot.” Justin said that they would regularly go to the beach because his house was ten minutes away from the water. They also made more than a few trips to Williamsburg to enjoy Busch Gardens or Water Country USA.

Though passionate about volleyball, Justin’s academics did not fall by the wayside. He applied early admission Virginia Tech. His brother attends Virginia Tech as a graduate student. He did well in high school, in part perhaps because of his mother.

Socially, Justin describes himself as “someone who has a few close friends.” Instead of seeking to make as many friends as possible, he finds a few close personal friends. Anthony says, “a tightknit bond is the best way to describe how Justin goes about socially. He enjoys meeting new people, and those he runs into, he tends to get to know them pretty well.”

If you were to meet Justin, you would see a guy who is about 6 feet tall, athletic, and has dirty blond hair. You might quickly find out about his volleyball interests. But if you really got to know Justin Shevock, you would soon realize he loves his friends, his family, and his school. Since he is interested in a mechanical engineering degree, the college life will not be the easiest; but Justin will excel, while still finding time to play volleyball.

God's Wonders Awe Knicely

As the autumn weather approaches and the mountains that surround Blacksburg, Virginia are becoming even more radiant, Tim Knicely becomes excited for the shorter days, cooler weather, and wearing his much loved North Face jacket.

Autumn is Knicely’s favorite season since he wants to eventually live in the mountains and look for shooting stars at night—enjoying all of God’s wonders. Along with the wonderful weather, Knicely can take a stroll down “memory lane” remembering the times when he played the alto sax in the band at Hidden Valley High School during football games.

Tim Knicely is enjoying the gorgeous nature that God created in his favorite North Face jacket.

Timothy Joseph Knicely, born December 10, 1988, lived in Harrisonburg for the first three years of his life and then moved to where he currently resides, Roanoke, Virginia. “Roanoke is a big area but it did not seem to influence me much when I was growing up,” Knicely states. Although the size of Roanoke did not influence him, Tim knew that he wanted to attend a big college as opposed to a smaller one because “it would be easier to make friends.” Knicely adds, “There had to be a football team.”

Knicely has a connection with football because he played in eighth grade, but he quit since he was not willing to put forth the effort and time that was required in order to be successful, according to Tim. He switched to track and field and soon discovered that there were aspects about football that he missed. “I missed a team sport. Track and field was an individual sport and I didn’t get the team bonding.” Maybe Tim misses it partly because the season it is in—fall.

Although team bonding is important to Tim, he said he also misses “just being able to hit someone in practice.” But Knicely soon found that track was his best sport. Todd Lewis, Knicely’s track coach and teacher, explains that Knicely soon evolved into a great runner. “Tim was a person of high morals and character…He always worked hard, and as a result, he was very successful.” This was true for both on the track and in the classroom.

Knicely’s persistence with track practice lead to one of his greatest accomplishments. Tim was participating in the long jump at a competition between the AA schools. He placed seventh in all AA schools and he was “the first white guy to place in the long jump.” This was a great accomplishment for him. Coach Lewis states that Knicely succeeded in track because of “his work ethic, willingness to listen, and his good jumping ability,” all of which is important when participating in track.

Not only was Tim “willing to listen,” he was also a leader. He influenced fellow classmates and team members, even as a junior, by listening to the coach. Knicely’s mother, Karen Kennedy, agrees with Lewis that Tim was very influential, but also believes that he has been influenced by his friends. “He has been influenced in both good and bad ways. I think he has used both situations as a tool to learn and grow from the situations,” Karen explains.

Although Knicely was successful in track, the most influential part of his life was church. Tim remembers going to three different churches over the past fifteen years. For the past five years, he has been attending Calvary Chapel of Roanoke, a nondenominational church. “I play in the band at church for the little kids, but our band only consists of guitars,” Knicely states. Having a church to attend regularly has helped him avoid peer pressure along with helping him “grow in his faith in God.”

Karen Kennedy believes that Tim’s belief in God has grown over the past five years. She cannot say that it has definitely grown because his “relationship with Jesus is personal and only God knows Tim’s heart.” But she can see the “fruits” of his faith. The main “fruits” that Knicely has been producing is the desire to connect with his fellow believers, read more of God’s word, and to serve Jesus.

One way Tim plans on studying the Lord’s word in more depth is going on a trip to Israel in the spring of 2008. This trip is “to have studies exactly where the stories of the Bible were taking place and to see first-hand what is still present today and to understand the situations of when the Bible was written.” This trip will be very beneficial for Tim to further expand his knowledge of the Bible and God’s wonders—not only the wonders of the mountains here, but the land in Israel.

Although Knicely plans on further expanding his trust, he admits that in the past, “the hardest thing has been attending a public school and still trying to live a Christian life.” Karen realized this as well. “I think he struggled with many of our decisions but could see we were trying to steer him in the best direction,” Karen states. Knicely’s parents tried not being “overly” strict, but at the same time, strict enough to where he knew his boundaries.

Although his parents were not too stern, there were many things that his fellow Christian friends were allowed to do that he could not because of his parent’s rules. Karen said that she is not exactly sure “how he handled a lot of this because he did not talk much about it…a typical teenaged guy.”

The great involvement in church was always apparent to Knicely’s friends and they knew that God was a big part of his life. One of his good friends, and his current roommate, William Hopkins, states that “church has influenced Tim the most in life.” Although Knicely and Hopkins have stopped going to the same church, it has not become a barrier in their friendship.

With church being the center of his life, Karen states that he has always had the “desire to ‘keep peace’ and will use his ‘people skills’ and sense of humor to reduce or remove tension.” William Hopkins agrees that his greatest characteristic is his sense of humor. But one of Tim’s characteristics that Karen admires most is his ability to be “laid back” at all times.

Tim is putting his “people skills” and his “laid-back” characteristics in use by meeting a new friend.

As God’s wonders are even more visible to Knicely as the years have progressed, he is still amazed by the wonders of the land that God has created. He wants to not only travel to Israel, but also to New Zealand and Switzerland to admire God’s creations in other countries. No matter where he goes, if he only has the ability to take one object with him, Tim says he would take his Bible.

Inside The Life of Sean Sandgren

With a life full of both vast changes and steady traditions, it’s no wonder that Sean Sandgren is not, as a great musician once said, ”just another brick in the wall.” With all of the moving, sports, and family, Sean Sandgren, a freshman student at Virginia Tech is bound to be more than cliché or ordinary.

When I first began my interview process with Sean, I came across my first stereotype about him. I knew he lived in Philadelphia, PA, so I asked, “born and raised in Philly right?”
His response was, “not even close!” I was confused, but Sean explained how he and his family had moved four different times before arriving in Philadelphia.

Sean was born to Debbie and Glenn Sandgren on October 8, 1988 in Detroit, MI. Sean lived in the inner-city, on 10 mile road. Two blocks from the 8 mile road that is found in Eminem’s movie 8 Mile. Since Sean only lived in Detroit until he was four-years-old, the city life had little impact on the man he is today.

After leaving Detroit, Sean’s family headed for Clarkson, MI. Clarkson is about fifty miles north of Detroit, as well as a little west. When Sean’s Parents made this move, they found jobs that were above par. Sean’s mom worked as Director of Institutional sales and marketing at Comerica Bank; and Sean’s dad worked as an Automotive Industry Manager for GE Plastics. Sean’s parents would be required to work long hours for these jobs, leaving Sean at home with a nanny. Sean describes his nannies as, “foreign”, and “second mothers with foreign habits.” Sean said that his nannies would sometimes beat him when he was acting up. When I asked him about this he said, “nothing bad, just like your parents would when you were a kid.”

After Clarkson came Cincinnati, OH. Sean lived with his family in Cinicinatti for eighteen months, followed by a move to Columbus, OH. Sean lived in Ohio from age six to age ten. Sean’s environment suddenly changed from city life to a rural setting.

In this rural environment, Sean picked up hobbies that the city did not permit. Some examples are motorcycles, paintball, hunting, and other outdoor activities. Sean would go hunting for rabbits or squirrels on a daily basis, as well as hanging out with friends.

Sean once tried to clear a tree in order to build a tree-house. He decided he would burn the limbs that needed clearing for the hangout. This harmless story of a kid at play took a turn for the worse when the fire grew to an uncontrollable blaze. Sean had used too much gasoline, and could not put the fire out. When I asked Sean where how he came up with the idea, he said, “ a book I read called, My Side of The Mountain”.

When Sean was ten, He and his family moved to Philadelphia, PA. Sean was old enough to see the change in lifestyles, and describes Philly as, “a much faster paced life, we were always doing something, whether it was paintball or just taking a drive.” Sean had friends in Philly that he would hang out with on a daily basis. Sean kept his circle of friends close, and describes why by saying, “ mostly to protect myself, so that when I had to move again it wouldn’t be so hard to leave.”

Throughout his life, Sean was a sports fan, and loved competition. These characteristics go hand-in-hand with his independence, to make a person with a strong will and great determination. Football has been Sean’s sport of choice. Still, Sean loves wrestling, motocross, paintball, as well as snowboarding.

Football has taught Sean a lot of life lessons as well as athletics. He learned lessons in things such as teamwork, leadership, respect, dealing with loss, and even determination. Football also allowed Sean to make good friends, which was helpful because it is hard to make friends when you move a lot. Football and other sports have been a foundation for Sean throughout his life of ever changing scenery. Sean’s family has always supported him in his athletics. Sean said, “Football really brought us closer together, my family loved to watch me play.”

Football, although being a static characteristic of Sean’s, found a way to bring vast changes to Sean’s life. When Sean was a junior in high school, Football was a way of life. Little did he know, he would miss much of the season. While playing in a game against Plymouth Whitmarsh High School, Sean was in the linebacker position for Wissahickson High School. During one play, Sean was being blocked by a player from the opposing team, when he was hit in the back by another opponent’s helmet. Sean went to the ground in excruciating pain. He knew then something was wrong..

After being taken to the hospital, Sean discovered he had fractured his L3 and L5 vertebra. These are the lower-middle of the spine. Sean was forced to wear a removable cast. The purpose of the cast was to limit his turning and bending. With this serious injury, Sean could not do many of the things that played large roles in his life such as football, wrestling, and paintball: since he could not move his back in order for it to heal. Sean was forced to pick up new hobbies such as, “photography, painting, and hanging with friends” as sean describes it.
Along with Sean’s back injury, football has been responsible for many other injuries. Such as the handful of concussions. Sean had suffered fourteen concussions by the time that he finished playing football at age 18. Along with all of the concussions, Sean also suffered from many broken bones.

Along with football, Sean loves to wrestle. He wrestled in high school, as well as his little brother. Sean describes his brother’s wrestling by saying, “He loved it. He was better than I was, and it brought us closer. He loved to teach me.” Wrestling was a way for Sean and his brother to connect as they grew up. Sean’s brother was almost two years younger than Sean, and looked up to him. Wrestling was a way for them to connect with each other.

Another hobby of Sean’s is working on cars. Cars were the source of connection between Sean and his father. They would use the time spent under the hood to catch up and talk about things as Sean and his father did something they were both passionate about.

Sean’s family has some concrete traditions that remain a static characteristic of the Sandgrens. One such tradition in the Sandgren house comes on christmas. Every year, Sean’s family makes resalmon, which is rice pudding with almonds and cherry sauce. The Sandgrens put one whole almond in the mix, and whoever gets the whole nut gets the box of chocolate turtles. Sean says, “ Its something we only do on christmas.” Sean’s family uses these traditions to keep the whole family connected. They have always believed in having a tightly-knit family structure, and this still holds true in Sean’s life today. Family has always held a special place in Sean’s heart because they have always been there, in every new surrounding.

The Limitless Life of Jon Vollmer

Late one night Keith, Jon’s roommate and Keith’s girlfriend were working on an engineering problem. It was getting late so Keith’s girlfriend slept in his loft across from Jon’s. Keith came back at 4:30AM and instead of waking her up decided to sleep on the floor.

Jon woke up a few hours later wide-eyed thinking, “Keith’s a woman!” This is one of many stories, but perhaps the most appropriate one for this profile. Putting the occasional insults aside, Jon and Keith seem to be good friends. After Keith insulted Jon’s intelligence Keith said, “On a good day he would reciprocate.”

Jon was born in Baltimore on October 30, 1989. He is German, Polish, Hungarian, Danish, Scottish, and Turkish. His family is from Sykesville, Maryland. He grew up on a 75-acre property, that’s as big as 57 football fields. He went to elementary school twenty-five minutes away. His favorite memory from elementary school was lighting the torch at their mock Olympics.

Jon is a self-proclaimed thrill seeker. He loves amusement parks, especially the thrill rides. He goes to Six Flags at least once every summer, most twice. Jon doesn’t like to be limited to dry land though, he also enjoys going to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, which is essentially the water version of Six Flags. He went to Mount View Middle School while living in Maryland.

Unlike elementary school he didn’t have to walk very far to go to his high school, Glenelg High School, spelled the same way backwards and forwards. This school is right next door to his house. Considering he lives on 75 acres it was still far.

Jon’s Dad is in the construction business, his Mom is a teacher. Since he was three or four years old his Dad would take him to ride dirt bikes. It grew on him and he really likes it. He has three bikes an MR50, XR100, and a CR250, which are all Hondas. Jon also enjoys riding in his snow mobile skidoo-touring sled, which holds three people. He lives a very active lifestyle. Walking back to our dorms one day he commented about how he was going to run 5 miles that day around the drill field. This wasn’t his first time doing any serious running he was just starting up again. He has been on the track team since the spring of his sophomore year. He did shot put and discus.

Having an active lifestyle also can come with risks. Jon has had his share of injuries in the past. Jon injured himself in indoor track in the spring. He spiral fractured his leg. The bone did not regenerate itself and 2 years ago he had to have prosthetic bone put in. The surgery went well, but he went into respiratory distress from an allergic reaction to the pain killer. This put him in a full leg cast for three months. When the doctors were examining his spiral fracture they actually found a benign tumor on his left tibia bone. Once while snowboarding Jon broke his wrist. Staying on the subject of accidents, he was involved in one major car accident where a truck ended up being totaled.

Jon’s favorite hiking spot is in Hagerstown; it’s called black rock. His Dad showed it to him when he was ten years old. He continued to go there when his church had camp meetings there. Jon’s best friend is Jim Miller. Jon’s mom introduced the two over a decade ago. They were building houses newly next door. Which was half a mile away. They were building back to front and his was one of the first houses to be put in.

Jim actually got accepted into Virginia Tech, but decided to go to Clemson instead. Jane and Lindsay are from Salisbury and Jon has known them since he first started spring track. Jen has a sister named Shelby who Jon had become good friends with. Jon met Mike Ross this past year he described it as one of those friendships that just clicked right from the get-go. Mike goes to Howard community college; he may transfer to Tech later.

Jon’s grandparents and cousins on his Mom’s side live in New Jersey. He usually sees them four times a year; sometimes his grandparents would visit him. Their whole family would go on one or two vacations a year. This past summer they went to Disney World. Past years they went to Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona. Every Christmas, as a family tradition they go see a Broadway show and eat at a steak house in New York. On his Dad’s side his grandmother lives closer to him than on his Mom’s side. Due to conflicting schedules they never see one another too often.

Jon’s Dad grew up in Ellens Mills, Maryland, and his mom in Staten Island, New York. His mom grew up in a strict household, her Mom was nicknamed Sergeant. Jon’s parents have been married for twenty years. Jon used to live with them in a small ranch house on the 10 acres of the property until the ninth grade when they moved into a stone house also on the farm. His grandpa had built the house, but unfortunately passed away before it was completed. This happened when Jon was thirteen. Jon’s favorite family trip was when they went to the Bahamas and rode jet skis.

Jon’s job in high school was to fix computers. If a computer broke he was the first person to know about it. He was frequently pulled out of class to fix computers. He sometimes got paid, but never had a consistent paycheck. There were 1000 computers at his school, which kept him extremely busy; he was the Lead Student Technician. Jon got accepted into Maryland, Michigan State, and NC State. He decided to go to VT because he liked the location and the atmosphere.

Chris Clark the New Superman

Chris Clark is a man on a mission, never resting or staying in one place for too long. He has been here at Virginia Tech for five weeks and nearly had to relocate. The Bursar Headquarters launched an attack on Chris and dropped him as a student for one day during the third week of school. The reason of the attack was identified as a hold on his Hokie Account that Chris had overlooked. It gave Chris a good scare, but he quickly rectified the situation, not wanting to lose credit for this semester.

Chris is half Filipino and half African American. He was born in Fredericksburg, VA on November 8, 1989 making him a “young-in;” meaning he is still 17. Chris was the largest baby in the hospital when he was born weighing in at a whopping 10lbs 11oz. His Dad is currently a Marine and his Mom is a homemaker. Chris’s brother goes to the University of Michigan and is studying to become a civil engineer. His sister is still in middle school in North Carolina. Chris also has a cousin from the Philippines that is currently living with his family.

His family originated here in Virginia, but moved to Irvine, California before Chris started school. He began his schooling at Los Naranos Elementary School located in California. This became the location of his first life lessons. “One time we had a fire drill and I was actually scared because I thought there was a real fire. It was very frightening and I nearly fell out of my chair when the alarm went off, but before I started screaming my teacher told me it was just a drill ”(Clark).

Another time Chris received a lesson about remembrance. He couldn't participate in a Jog-Athon with his classmates because he didn't bring his permission slip to school that day. He was the only student who forgot and had to stay in the classroom with his teacher. Chris says he probably cried and sat in the corner of the room when that happened. In addition, he could write using cursive by the time he was seven, but his second grade teacher made him stop because it looked like a bunch of scribbles to her.

Then, he moved to Rockville, Maryland where he spent his third grade year. In Maryland Chris lived in a townhouse right next to Montgomery Community College. During third grade, he sat across from a girl who claimed that he was practically in love with her and attending this class became a hassle for Chris. She really confused him because he did not understand what she was talking about nor had he ever thought about girls as more than friends. That year Chris took a field-trip to Amish country Pennsylvania to compliment what he was learning in his history class. He enjoyed the break from school, but did not really understand why this group of people would not use society’s new technologies.

Next, he moved onto Ft. Belvoir army base where he spent his fourth and fifth grade years. They had just built his new school on the military base several months ago. In fourth grade he was fixated with always having his homework done and receiving a check mark for the day. Chris remembers being embarrassed and scared several days when he didn't have all of his homework done and ready for class. In addition to his grades, playing the violin became his favorite hobby that school year. Fourth grade was a busy year for him especially since he started the year being the “new kid” once again.

In fourth and fifth Chris was a safety patrol officer, so he got to wear that very important badge and orange sash. His job was to direct the students to their seats on the bus. However, everyone was bigger than Chris, so he wasn't taken seriously. In the fifth grade his class went on a field trip to a museum near by the base. He remembers feeling so sick that he almost passed out while touring the museum.

Chris’s best friend at this school lived near him in the housing complex on the base. His name was Tait Nelson Thompson and his initials were TNT. He thought Tait’s parents did purposely because of Tait’s military background. On Chris’s tenth birthday, they went to the mall to ride bumper cars and laser tag. Chris was confused at first how the bumper cars worked, making him a target for everyone. He also had trouble with how the laser tag gun functioned and lost all of his matches by huge margin. Chris regrets not keeping in contact with Tait; however, he was gone from Ft. Belvoir in a flash and remembers only a few stories from his time on the base.


Chris moved to San Diego, California temporarily before the start of sixth grade. San Diego became his favorite place to live and he would like to go back there after college. Chris spent sixth and seventh grade in Virginia. While in sixth grade his family took a trip to Lego-Land. He remembers riding on a mini-coaster at the park and thinking he was going to die because it was going too fast for him. Chris picked up the hobby of skateboarding while hanging out with his friends in California. He made some very close friends while he was on the west coast and wishes that he stayed in contact with all of them after he left.

Chris spent eighth to tenth grade in Okinawa, Japan. Each time he moved he had to leave all of his new friends from the previous location. It was very sad for Chris, but he knew he would meet new people upon arrival at his next home. Moving to Japan became his family’s largest transition they had ever made. He remembers when he stepped off the airplane how humid it was outside on the island. “It was very hard to breathe at first, but I got used to it after a few days though” says Clark. He lived on a military base and went to an American school just like when he was back at Ft. Belvoir. “On military bases everything is uniform and nothing ever changes, which can be a good or a bad thing depending on the situation”(Clark).

He learned more Spanish than Japanese while on the island. An interesting memory from Okinawa was he saw a protest performed by the people of Okinawa over the U.S. military having such a strong presence on their island. They would stand in front of the military base and chant for hours in Japanese. Chris could not understand them, so the protests were just an annoyance.

Chris’s family next moved to Cary, North Carolina near Raleigh. He would spend half of his junior year there until he relocated to Havelock, North Carolina. He graduated high school there in Havelock and began preparing to attend Virginia Tech in the fall.

His biggest fear is dying because several places he has lived in the past seventeen years were considered hostile environments. Chris was also a video game fanatic before he came to college. His new hobby in college has become working at KFC and on school wok. Chris has never played any sports except for the time he tried out for the track team in the tenth grade. He quit after the first day because of the time requirements to be on the team.

Chris’s biggest role model is Martin Luther King Jr. He has a lot of respect for Dr. King and what he did to make his beliefs known. Chris has never been to church or pursued religion, but he does believe in God. Chris came to VT because it was the best school he got into and its engineering program is ranked very highly in the nation. His major is University Studies, but he will be switching to Mechanical Engineering in the future. “Chris is self motivated, creative, organized, and adaptable person when it comes to succeeding in new surroundings,” says Chris’s Mom.

Chris has flown all over the United States and to Okinawa assimilating himself to each new situation at hand. This includes his most recent undertaking, the “College Crusader” aka Virginia Tech. Hopefully for Chris, his dorm Barringer will be his permanent location for the next 4 years, if he can manage to keep off of the Bursar Headquarters radar. Don Don Don…

Twelve Thousand Times Two Equals Rebecca Thornton

Sitting comfortably in her blue jeans and favorite royal blue Madison County soccer sweat shirt, a little too long in the arms, Rebecca Thornton relaxes during her favorite season in her freshman year at Virginia Tech.

This relaxing state coincides with the hometown of Rebecca, Madison County, where the hustle and bustle is kept to a minimum. With a hometown population half the size of Virginia Tech’s enrollment, the transition between the two would be an adventure on its own.

When July 31st, 1989, came around, it was time for Rebecca to step into the world. Being the youngest of three, has shaped Bec’s life into what is it today. With older sister Sarah, twenty three, and Diana, twenty one, looking after her, Rebecca had an exceptionally sheltered life. Plus the only major accident that can develop from living on a farm is the occasional cow tipping.

The town of Madison, Virginia is a depiction you always see in the movies, rolling blue hills, trees that line the street with colors of red, orange and yellow during fall, and the typical cow population, where they occupy more land than people do.

Madison has a population around twelve thousand, the sort of place where you knew almost everyone. Katrina, Rebecca’s best friend, stated, “If you're driving down the street or walking down the sidewalk, you know the person who's passing by. It's like a comfort zone.” A comfort zone that would make the transition between a small rural town to a larger Virginia Tech campus even more complicated.

Rebecca grew close to her family while living in a small county 40 minutes north of Charlottesville, Virginia. Unlike most kids, Rebecca had a tight relationship with both parents. Mary, Rebecca’s mother, was involved in mostly everything school related. Remembering the questions, “How much homework do you have Rebecca,” to a very similar question 20 minutes later, “What homework do you have” was a sign that if there was ever a problem with the work, to come seek help. Whenever there was a struggle with a subject, Mary was the first one to dive in to help her daughter.

Between the grades of first through eighth, Charles and Mary sent their kids to Grymes Memorial School, a private institute in Orange County, 10 minutes outside Madison. Charles stated, “…we felt that a private school offered a better education in various areas.” When the alteration from middle school to high school arrived, Rebecca’s life began to take off.

Rebecca Thornton at Virginia TechWhen school started in the year 2003 at Madison County High, Bec had a hard time fitting in. Going through freshman and sophomore year without making too many friends, was one of her strongest regrets. I remember the strange and awkward feelings from entering a new place making it hard to interact. Rebecca wished she wouldn’t have been as shy the first half of high school. No high school makes it easy to make friends, especially when threats to the building are involved.

Every school is not with its problems. During Bec’s senior year a few unpredictable events transpired. A series of bomb threats, five in total, were sketched on walls of bathrooms. These disruptions of school work lead to the evacuation of Madison High to a local elementary school, Waverly Yowell. Focusing on studies had vanished for students for awhile but Rebecca still persevered, maintaining her high grade point average.

Taking school work seriously was a typical trait you could find in Rebecca. This was the place where her obsession with taking notes and making lists thrived. From her pad of paper shaped like a dress, sitting on her night stand, writing down homework on her planner, to copying notes, helped fuel the fire of knowledge under her. Finishing eighth in a class of one hundred and forty was no small task. That is the top five percent of her school.

Apart from her studies which consumed numerous amount of her time, Rebecca found time to help out with the local soccer team. The Madison County Mountaineers’ soccer team, whom juggled around with wins and losses, is where she applied her free time. Even though the coach failed to accept her playing ability during her freshman year and was cut, she still volunteered to help out. Katrina quoted Rebecca as, “Unselfish, always willing to give herself.” This was the very trait one would need to stick around and lend a hand.

Rebecca's care been shown to her roommateUnselfish was just one of the many words to describe her personality. Many of Rebecca’s friends and family also characterized her as, “sweet, caring and honest.” Traits are found on the inside and work their way out, however many people saw a light about Rebecca. The way she acted in any merciless circumstance, or the forgiveness she would offer, would be unlike the people around her. The only thing she expected in return was to be treated the same way with honesty and care.

Rebecca’s hard work during her high school career is what led her to apply early decision to Virginia Tech. There were positive and negative outcomes for making this decision. Unlike most senior high school students that apply to three or more colleges, Rebecca only applied to Tech. If she did get into Virginia Tech she was secured a spot at the University. On the flip side if she had not gotten in, Rebecca stated that her back-up plan was to “go to a community college for a year and then transfer to Tech.”

When that day came in late December of 2006 to find out if she was going her dream college, she wasn’t n the least bit discouraged. Bec was granted acceptance and was “thoroughly excited.” With a population twice the size of her home town, she wasn’t afraid because she had family that lived in Blacksburg.

Diana, her sister, and other relatives living a few minutes from campus made the transition for Rebecca a peaceful one. Destined not to repeat her mistake of being shy, Bec is jumping at the bit to make new friends. With a campus of twenty five thousand people, there are friends for everyone.

Tim Knicely
Blacksburg, VA

A Friendly, Fearless, Funny Fuzz

Standing tall at 6’2, the black haired, brown-eyed teenager named Fuzz isn’t all just looks. He’s an honor student, athlete, family member and friend. Faziaan Hashmi, known to us as Fuzz, is often caught wearing these different shoes. For him, it’s just an average day in life, but for us, it’s one talented teenager.

Hashmi, a freshman at Virginia Tech, has already figured out how to live his life. He says, “I really like to laugh, make people laugh, and have a good time, without stressing myself out,”- an approach that will take him far in life.

Faizaan “Fuzz” Hashmi was born on July 16, 1989, and has lived in Gaithersburg, Maryland, for all of his life. At home, Hashmi lives with four other family members: his father, mother, brother, and sister. While his brother and sister have both gone away to school in California and Maryland, it hasn’t stopped him from being close to them. He says, “I can talk to them about anything… I’ve always considered my brother my best friend and always will.”

While Fuzz is close with his family, he also has numerous friends from school and extracurricular activities. Hashmi remembers, “Throughout middle and high school, I always had a lot of friends. I was a social kid,” and no doubt, he is right. Spencer Neubaum, one of Hashmi’s friends since kindergarten, recounts Fuzz “going above and beyond to help me out when I was ill, and letting me stay over at his house whenever I needed.” Fuzz says “I love all of them and would never let anything happen to them” as he describes his friends.

Fuzz’s caring attitude continues to make an impact on those he is around. Born and raised Muslim, Hashmi tries to follow example set by his mother. He says “I try to live by good morals and try not to do anything to hurt anyone.”

When Fuzz was in high school, he kept a challenging schedule, taking all honors and Advanced Placement classes. Neubaum remembers Hashmi “studying a lot and not giving up when he didn’t understand something.” Fuzz’s good work ethic paid off; he was accepted into his first choice university and completed his high school career with a 3.40 un-weighted grade point average.

Hashmi, an undergraduate studying business, hopes to graduate in the spring of 2011 and enter the business world with his father. “My dad and I are both business men, which helped me decide what I needed to do in college,” he stated.

Outside of the classroom, Fuzz keeps busy. He boxes, wrestles, and enjoys playing football with his friends. Recently starting boxing, he is especially proud of his initial starting record: 8-0. When not engaging in sports, he could be caught playing pool or foosball, which he claims “I’m a beast at.” He also enjoys playing Xbox, watching movies, and hanging out with friends, like any normal teenager.

Typical to athletes, Hashmi has faced his fair share of injuries. Specifically, Fuzz remembers damaging his ankle on day during wrestling practice of his sophomore year. “I was practicing a new maneuver, and my partner had gotten such a strong hold on my leg that I ended up breaking it and dislocating it into three places when I tried to get out of the hold,” recounts Hashmi. He says there are now twelve screws and a metal plate permanently fixed in his ankle.

Aside from his wrestling injury, another memory that stands out for Fuzz was attending the Vans Warped Tour concert during the summer after his freshman year. Some of Hashmi’s favorites were present, and he was able to retrieve autographs from them.

For most of his life, Fuzz has been interested in rock music. An active musician, Fuzz has played guitar since middle school and continues to do so today. While his musical tastes aren’t that of heavy metal, they do include some contemporary rock: Rise Against, Brand New, Halifax, and the occasional rap and techno.

Outside of playing guitar and sports, Fuzz enjoys going out and having a good time. Like many students, Fuzz states “My friends and I love to go out and party.” One thing Fuzz would do with his friends in high school is go out for sushi three times a week. “As soon as we would walk in the door, they would automatically start preparing our food,” he says. It wasn’t the only usual hangout for Fuzz – during football season he would meet up at his friend Mike’s house and eat wings while watching the Redskins game.

During his last year in high school, he spent his time after as cashier at Harris Teeter, a grocery store near his house. He was named ‘cashier of the week’ during the opening week of the store, something that he will never forget.

While it appears Fuzz spends all his time with friends, playing sports, or doing schoolwork, he tries to put some time aside for himself. With his health and fitness in mind, he “loves to go to the gym and life weights,” visiting as often as four times a week. Back in high school, he used to be able to leg-press 1,000 lbs, a feat that he cannot reproduce today.

Trying to eat well in addition to exercise, Hashmi cut soda out of his diet during his junior year of high school. His favorite drinks are now Grape Gatorade, and iced or sweet tea, and he’ll indulge in one of them when he goes out for a meal.

With a life full of sports, school, family, and friends, it is no wonder why Fuzz is happy. He has everything he needs, has figured out what he wants to do with his life, and how to get the most out of his time.

On each day of Fuzz’s life, he tries to “live by good moral standards and to not do anything that would let my parents down.” With his positive outlook on life, Faziaan “Fuzz” Hashmi will accomplish his dream of becoming a successful businessman, taking one day at a time.

College Takes Erin Far From Home

This year, eighteen year old Erin Nichole Zeider, decided she needed a change of scenery and came to Virginia for college, leaving her small hometown in Pennsylvania. Erin loved living in Reedsville, near State College. She would often avoid taking the interstate and instead drive downtown just so she could see everyone she knew. The only complaint she had about growing up in such a small town was the lack of things to do.

“I really loved living in my small town,” Erin said when asked about if she liked growing up in her hometown “It was really beautiful,” she added.

Erin had live in the same town since she was born on May 22, 1989 until she came to Virginia Tech. She is the youngest of the three girls in her family. When she was young her parents thought her the importance of trying your very best and about integrity. Erin describes her sisters and herself as being very obedient and polite when they were children.

When asked what Erin was like when she was younger, her oldest sister, Blair said she was a somewhat shy and sweet little girl. Blair also said that once Erin got to know you, you couldn’t get her to stop talking.

“She was also known to ham it up in front of the camera, we have too many home videos of her singing “Jingle Bells” at all times of the year,” Blair said

The Zeider family is very close. Jerry Zeider, Erin’s dad, works for a company called Brodart, which manufactures library furniture. Erin considers him as much of a friend to her as a dad. She says that they are both goofy and joke around a lot. They also like to go running together, which is a hobby of Erin’s. Erin’s mother, Susan Zeider, works with the parents and teachers of children with disabilities.

“My mom is very helpful and loving, though she sometimes tents to smother me, but she is still a great mom,” Erin said.

Erin is especially close to her sister Blair who is over eight years older than her. She looks up to her and admires the things she has accomplished. Both sisters say they rarely fought when they were younger. Today Erin looks to Blair for advice.

“When she was really little, she looked up to me as some kind of ideal teenager, I know because she has told me so,” Blair said when asked about their relationship.

In her youth Erin had a big imagination and was very creative. Her sister, Blair, recalls her sister doing many crafts when she was small. Blair still has many of the things she made. Also, Erin’s best friend of twelve years, Anne Williams remember playing a game called “Kenneth and Albert” when they were younger. In the game, which was created by the two girls, Erin was Kenneth and Anne was Albert. The girls would go on adventures in Erin’s back yard. Usually the game involved a ship and a storm.

“One time Erin got her foot stuck between the bars on the playground set and she cried and her mom had to help her get it out,” Anne recalled about their adventures in the back yard.

Erin attended the same high school, Indian Valley High School, in her hometown from the ninth grade until she graduated. She loved her school because of the wonderful school spirit. At school Erin had some really close friends but also said that she was friends with almost everyone. Her senior class voted her most likely to brighten you day because she is a goofball.

When Erin was in high school, her friends and she hung out at each other’s houses a lot. Usually they hung out at her friend Curtis’s house, where they played ping pong and just hung out. In the summer they enjoyed going swimming. They also went to local baseball and basketball game and played their own backyard sports.

In high school Erin had a boyfriend named Seth. They were really good friends before they started dating and then dated for over a year. Erin describes Seth as smart and funny. She says she cared a lot about him and they are still good friends to this day. After that, during her senior year, Erin casually dated a guy named Marcus who had a mohawk. He was like the school mascot and always got the crowd pumped up.

“I went with him to a few dances and stuff, but it was really relaxed,” Erin said about Marcus.

Also in high school, Erin played on the Field Hockey team for all four years and loved it. Today she misses her teammates. The team was pretty good, usually winning the district tournament and playing well in states. One time at camp, a friend of Erin’s pulled Erin’s pants down in front of a big crowd. She was embarrassed but also thought it was funny and laughed it off. Also, last summer when Erin was playing field hockey, she ran into another girl, both girls had concussions, but Erin had to get sixteen stitches in her head. All her hard work in Field Hockey paid off because she was the team captain her senior year and received the “True Warrior” award, which was given out to the player who works the hardest and inspires the team.

Erin considers her biggest accomplish, in life so far, to be how much she enjoys everyday and takes nothing for granted. She tries to live each day to its fullest and not regret anything.

“If I did it, then it made me who I am today,” Erin commented on her approach to living life without regrets.

In seven years Erin will either be working or finishing some kind of graduate school. She is very independent and will not let anything stand in the way of her accomplishing her goals. Maybe she will become a scientist, park ranger, or a special environmentalist.

“I think she will be very successful in whatever she does,” her sister Blair commented when asked about Erin’s future. “Hopefully she will live close to me,” she added, which would take Erin back to her home state of Pennsylvania.

The Life of Religion: RJ Niewoehner

Graced by God. Those are some of the many words that strongly represent the being of RJ Niewoehner. Born to Rob and Natalie Niewoehner in California, MD, RJ was raised to be a believer in religion. He was also raised to have a strong sense of family values.

RJ, 18, has an extraordinary drive to achieve his goals and dreams. He plans on becoming an Electrical Engineer and has taken many steps already to achieve this ambition. First and foremost, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University accepted RJ into the General Engineering program for his outstanding academic achievements throughout his previous schooling. For most of his life he was homeschooled, but before coming to Virginia Tech, RJ went to Anne Arundel Community College and there he completed four grueling semesters. Throughout those four semesters he earned an impressive overall GPA of 4.0.

His drive of achievements extends to another sector of his personality. RJ’s greatest fear seems to include letting people down, especially people whom which he admires. The people he looks up to are the most important people to him because he doesn’t want to disappoint them and he wants to look successful in their eyes as well.

There are many people that RJ looks up to as a role model. There is of course Jesus Christ, Andrew Graham, the leader of battalion, the marines that were sponsored by his family, and of course his father. Being religious, RJ has developed the belief that Jesus was the perfect human being who made up for the imperfections of the rest of the human race. RJ, like many other children, believes his father is the most important role model he has. RJ always loved hearing the stories his father had to tell about his job in the navy. His father was a test pilot in the navy, so his job was to fly planes to their limit to discover how they will react. RJ and his brothers enjoyed watching the videos his father showed them, but his mother, on the other hand, would never watch these videos in fear of what could happen to him.

Living in a navy family induces many influences on a young adult. The drive and persistence to succeed are dominant in many children with parents in the navy. This is exceptionally true in RJ. He demonstrates this drive in many aspects of his life including his devotion to Jesus Christ.

Niewoehner impressive devotion to Jesus Christ extends to many other characteristics within his life. He was the sergeant of his Battalion, which is a Christian Service Brigade. This battalion teaches young adults outdoor skills and also disciplines them to become more accomplished adults. RJ enjoys thinking about nature as being “an amazing creation of God. I just enjoy looking around while on my hikes and just taking in the beautiful grace God has given to nature.” As the sergeant, RJ had many responsibilities. He was in charge of organizing service projects, planning weekly meetings, and ensuring that the peer leaders knew what had to be accomplished each week. RJ also engineered new ways for the members to have fun.

Using his creative skills, he ashioned a new game which came to be named trashball. This game consisted of dodge ball and capture the flag twisted into one insane game. This was an outrageous hit among the members of battalion.

If an activity includes the outdoors then it is RJ’s type of activity. He greatly enjoys the general outdoor activities that include backpacking, camping, rock climbing, caving, and practically any other activity that includes both the great outdoors and an aspect of nature. He also has another type of activity that he enjoys. This activity consists of playing with air soft guns. Usually he takes pleasure in having a war with his three younger brothers, Evan, Brent, and Nate.

Living in a family with parents in the navy sometimes requires moving around the country. This is exactly what RJ has done during his life. His family has moved a total of two times since January of 1989 when he was born. Even though RJ has only lived in two different cities throughout his life, he has had wonderful experiences in many different houses. His first house was in California, Maryland. He lived in this house for two years before moving to Monterey, California. There he lived for a total of three years before moving once again. This time however, his family moved back to California, Maryland, back to his home town. Even though this was early in his childhood, this helped RJ learn how to meet new people and not expect to have the same people around throughout his entire life.

RJ started playing sports at an early age. He started playing soccer when he was five and he played up through the high school years. However, he is disappointed in himself that he didn’t stick to playing soccer longer. He feels that if he hung with the sport longer he would have become much better in the sport and would have possibly been able to play at the college level.

Hockey was also a major passion during the early years. He became an immense fan of the Washington Capitals. RJ described watching the Capitals as being “fun to watch because they won some games. They were good enough to go to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.” This is also when RJ started playing hockey himself. He usually played street hockey with his friends. The games he played usually lasted an hour or two. They played on his driveway which was a fairly new and smooth surface. He had all the goalie equipment even though he didn’t play competitively.

Because of his devotion to hockey, RJ’s parents bought him much of his equipment. He described this equipment as being “decent but inexpensive. I took good care of what I had.” He had a nice pair of rollerblades, an actual ice hockey stick, a goalie stick, a goalie glove, facemask, and pads.

The general activity after finishing a game of street hockey was an excitement filled game of capture the flag. Usually all of RJ’s friends would jump into one of these excitement filled games. He described his yard as being the perfect place to play a game of capture the flag because of its sheer size.

In RJ’s own eyes, being involved in his religious activities is his greatest accomplishment. He enjoys every aspect of religion and believes in it deeply. Also, he describes the religious activities as being “fun and excitement filled. There is always something new to do with respect with activities available through the church.”

He anticipates that, once he has graduated from college, he will earn an exciting career position in the field of Electrical Engineering. Along with an exciting career, RJ hopes to continue with his passions of religion and the great outdoors.

DeHart Refreshes Loyalty

Loyalty is difficult to find in today's world. So many people are on-the-go and too busy to evaluate their lives deciding to whom or to what they wish to commit. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet one of the most loyal people left. Sara DeHart has dedicated her life to her family, friends, and God. DeHart's dedication proves that she is not like every other girl, but her kind, innocent heart and goal to keep others happy truly places DeHart above the rest. Sara is a friend anyone would be lucky to have.

Luckily, Sara has friended many people. Since her youth, she has become accustomed to bundling her life together and transporting all of it from one location to another. DeHart has occupied a wide variety of states including California, Ohio, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, and Virginia. Each location provided Sara with different opportunities and friendships, but she adapted to the assorted destinations quickly constructing friendships with the people around her. Sara told me she still keeps in touch with her old friends, but that did not surprise me.

It also didn't surprise me when Sara mentioned how close her family is. With her father in the military and her family moving all the time, Sara has truly bonded with her family. DeHart's eyes lit up when she began to speak of her strong relationships with her mother and father. Learning piano from her mom and hanging out with her dad, Sara couldn't imagine her life without either of them.

Amber, Sara's sister, laughed when I inquired about any stories she might have involving Sara. She divulged, “At five years old, Sara threw an enormous temper tantrum in the back of the car. She kept yelling that she wished she had perfect parents!” Sara may have wanted that when she was little, but clearly her relationship with her parents has solidified.

Despite typical sibling rivalry, Sara and Amber have a tight bond between themselves. With Sara's long blond hair and warm golden eyes, the relation between the girls is more than obvious. Amber, normally a quiet girl, opened up when speaking of Sara. She laughed, “Sara is so talkative! She's such a friendly, nice girl who's talented in math and science.” The two sisters regularly play violin together at their church which is one of Sara's favorite moments. The love and loyalty between the girls left me envious.

Playing violin with Amber is only one of the many activities Sara involves herself in at her church. Sara's parents raised her in Catholicism, and Sara cannot see herself following any other religion. Ever since 8th grade, DeHart has built an intense and admirable faith and dedication to her church. Sara's involvement with LifeTeen helped shape her connection with Catholicism. Every Sunday one can expect to see Sara faithfully attending mass. In fact, she spends a majority of her time helping out there, but Sara would never consider that time a chore or burden.

Julie Dale, Sara's confirmation sponsor, has known Sara before she was even born. Julie stressed that Sara is very loyal to whatever her interests are at the time. Helping DeHart with her decision to confirm her faith, Julie watched proudly as Sara took responsibility and fully devoted herself to her God and religion as well as to her family.

Now at Virginia Tech, Sara DeHart still attends services. She has met a lot of new friends and role models through her new church and school. DeHart knew even while living in Nevada that Virginia Tech had a wonderful reputation. “My dad wanted me to go to a research school, and I knew Tech was a really good university,” Sara explained. Tech accepted Sara as an engineering major which as most know can provide students with many challenges.

DeHart's father also pursued a career in astronomical and electrical engineering. Taking a step in her father's direction, Sara awaits excitedly to see what opportunities are out there for engineers. Her family and friends all see Sara growing into an incredibly successful engineer. “She's a really dedicated girl,” Julie Dale beamed. Dedication is exactly the word to describe Sara. Her ability to balance school, friends, and church will soon prove to be a huge asset during her college engineering career.

Other than engineering, Sara has always been interested in helping others. During high school, National Honor Society occupied much of Sara's time. She volunteered for many community service works and helped out with the multicultural club. “The club showed how cultures connected,” DeHart explained. She went on to describe a violin performance during which she played a solo of “The Circle of Life.” Sara admitted it as one of her best times in high school. She claimed it was exciting but very powerful as well. DeHart spent much of her time in high school helping out with NHS as well as the multicultural club; she wanted to spend her time giving to others, and community service work was one of the best ways she knew how.

While she is out of school, Sara enjoys working at the Recreational Center at the Multi Generational camp. While there, she works and plays with kids. DeHart always looks forward to her summers knowing she'll have a fun job during those months. “I really like kids,” Sara explained. Kids are just one more part of Sara's life with which people can see her doing well. Sara's sweet attitude and never-ending patience are perfect aspects of her personality to deal with children.

It seems Sara's work ethic is highly admirable, and she wants incoming freshmen to learn better study habits. Sara realizes that good study habits are key to being successful in college. Also, Sara wants to impress upon the next classes that they need to organize themselves to do well in school, but that it's also important to make new friends and branch out.

Friendships are one thing Sara has mastered down to a science. Between moving from place to place and changing from middle school to high school, Sara has always had to adapt to new environments. However, she now does this almost perfectly. Sara's dedication and loyalty to her old friends as well as her aspirations to make new ones is highly impressive. DeHart's wonderful family and amazing friends supporting her through her career in engineering and her life in the Catholic church leaves her with a constant smile. Sara DeHart deserves all that support, and she's bound to return all the loyalty and dedication right back.

Can anyone see all of the United States? Chris has certainly tried

Chris Phan Nam Hoang’s room is not messy, per se, but it’s not completely organized either. It has a lived in feel, like someone has molded the room to make themselves comfortable. He seems to know where everything is, but God help you if someone else tries to find something.

Born November 20^th, 1989, Chris is seventeen years old, and has travelled throughout the country in his many years of life. His father, Dung, is a computer engineer who has completed a lot of work for various banks, the reason the family moved around the country so often was for his work. Currently, his father is working in North Carolina while his mother, Michelle, is unemployed. His sister, Maria, attends Virginia Tech and is currently a grad student there.

Chris has been all over the country in his life, attending no less than 11 schools. He has lived in New York and California, as well as many places in between. When he lived in San Francisco he lived near that great symbol of the West Coast, the Golden Gate Bridge. While he was in Los Angeles he lived next to the famous Santa Monica pier the location of many of the Nickelodeon stars. When Chris lived in northern Virginia and Maryland he was near the capital of the country, and when Chris lived in Chicago he was close to where Michael Jordan used to play.

Besides the repeated moving around the country, Chris’ household was odd in other ways as well. Chris was raised half-Catholic and half-Buddhist, in his home there contained one room that looked like you had stepped into a church, another room contained what looked like some kind of temple that should be on a high mountain in Asia somewhere.

At one point, Chris and his mother took care of fish. His favorite was a little fish named “Bubba.” Bubba was the smallest fish in his group, sadly, Bubba is now dead.

Chris has many interests, the greatest of all being break dancing. In middle school he saw a Limp Bizkit video and saw a dancer, who he later found out was called Mr. Wiggles. Chris strived to be like Mr. Wiggles and started learning how to dance and practicing his moves.

He formed a group with his closest friends in middle school who he would practice with and learn new moves. All the middle schools he went to had a yearly talent contest, in which he would participate. Everyone thought that it was really cool, but he did not get much recognition. Nobody really knew his name, just that he was the kid who could dance.

Once he started attending high school Chris would go out on weekends in the local area of wherever he was currently living and participate in local competitions. On average, he won more often than not.

However, when Chris got to his junior year of high school he stopped going to competitions, as he had gotten a new interest, sports. He joined the Varsity Football, Varsity Wrestling, and Varsity Track teams at his school. While he greatly enjoyed doing it, it took up much of his time. His father was “really happy that he started wresting in his junior year then played football in his senior year.”

In his final years of high school, homework and sports took up almost all his time. He would get up at eight o’clock in the morning and go to school, where he would toil and work until 3:45 in the afternoon. After that he would go to his practice, which would last from four o’clock to 6:30. He would return home exhausted every day, where he got to look forward to homework from all four of his classes.

Chris is a very relaxed and chill guy, in his own words he is “chillaxing.” His friends and family also seem to agree. His longtime friend and current roommate had this to say about him, “He is probably the most laid back guy I’ve ever met, open-minded, understand, hilarious to talk to once you get to know him.” I myself have found that he is a very easy-going guy.

His parents describe him as being very “gentle,” his father had this to say: “I’m really aggressive and self confident while my only son (Chris) is a ‘poet’.” His father even had a good story to illustrate how gentle and laid-back he is.

Back when Chris was eight or nine his parents enrolled him into a Chinese martial arts class. Around three months into the class he had to pass a test to advance to the next belt level, as part of this test he had to spar against another student. The other student he had to spar against was a girl, and while he would defend himself when she attacked, he would not attack her back.

Even though Chris knew he would lose by doing this, he wouldn’t hit a girl. After the test his father “asked him why he did not hit the girl back. Chris told me because “… she’s a girl, Dad, and I don’t hit girls …”.”

Chris is currently studying at Virginia Tech in the Engineering Department. He plans to major in Computer Sciences. After graduating he wants to own his own computer company. He also desires for those things everyone wants, a good family, a nice house, and a nice car. Chris would also like to teach dancing to kids at some point, and get them as addicted to it as he himself is. And why not? It doesn’t appear to have done Chris any harm in his life, as he is a very “chillaxing dude.”

Hanging out with Ryan Grant

Chilling. That’s what Ryan Grant likes to do the most. Whenever he is not whizzing through his math homework, he’ll be with his friends pulling pranks, playing football, ping pong, or football video games, like Madden ‘08. Of course, math homework doesn’t take that long for him.

Ryan Grant grew up in Colonial Heights, VA, a town about 20 minutes south of Richmond. He attended Colonial Heights High School, a very small school. He had a brother, age 6, and a sister, age15. His siblings lived with their mother while Grant lived with his father on the weekday and with his mom on the weekends. Despite the alternating schedule of spending time with his parents, he was very close with both of them. They weren’t strict with Grant, probably because he made good grades in school to keep them satisfied.

Before Grant went to tech, he lived a full high school life. “Ryan was very popular and had a lot of friends. He made the golf team his junior and senior year and did very well and was #1 on his team several different times,” his parents said, “He seemed to manage sports and good grades very well.” Aside from his athletic extracurricular activities, he was part of the National Honor Society and the Beta club, which definitely helped his acceptance into Virginia Tech.

“I was pretty tight with everyone at the school, but it wasn’t hard because the class size was so small that everyone knew each other anyways,” explains Grant. Even though there were cliques everywhere, he still managed to be good friends with almost everyone in his class. Whenever he wasn’t at practice or studying, he would be out with his friends driving around doing whatever. “One time my friends bought a super soaker and went to the drive-through of like MacDonalds and soaked the drive through person,” Grant said, “I wouldn’t soak anyone but it was still a lot of fun.”

Despite his popularity, Grant would usually be shy and quiet when you first meet him. But after you break through that silent shell, he’s a nice and humorous person that everyone wants to be friends with. “Ryan is a good friend of mine. He has a good sense of humor and knows how to have a good time. He is also very friendly and sometimes shy if he doesn't know you very well,” says Travis Moseley, one of Grant’s high school friends and mentor. “The thing I like the most about Ryan is he always wants and knows how to have fun and he knows how to treat his friends.”

Now Grant is a freshmen engineer at Virginia Tech. His aptitude in math will certainly help in his studies in engineering. “He’s good at math so he can help me with my math class,” explains his roommate. He used to have trouble with managing his time working and with his friends, but now that he’s in college, he promised himself to work better, and he has been working more efficiently. For example, even though he was #1 on his high school golf team and placed in tournaments, he chose his college grades over a college golf career.

He’s also been trying to be neater, cleaner, and more organized. He likes to have his dorm room clean and spotless. The garbage should be taken out often when necessary (Grant is usually the one who has to take it out) and his dirty clothes should be in the laundry hamper.

Grant still hasn’t changed much since he became a Hokie. On the weekdays he’ll wake up and be studying or doing homework in between classes. On the weekends, if you want to find him, you can usually find him either outside playing football or inside playing football video games. He still likes to play small pranks. “I hate that he’s always changing my (AIM) away message and facebook status to something retarded,” explains his roommate.

In ten years, Ryan Grant will probably be having poker nights with his friends every Thursday in his nice suburban house outside Richmond. Every Saturday night will be family night, which includes playing board games or watching a movie with his beautiful wife, (older) son, and (younger) daughter. He’ll be working at an engineering firm in the city, commuting to work in an Evo Lancer. After work he’ll pick up his kids from school and bring them to soccer practice… or maybe golf practice. Even when he’s grown up, I’m sure he’ll still be smiling about the good times he had with his friends in high school and college.