To start this article off right, one thing should be made clear. Gigi is not her real name. Her birth name is Margaret Dean Richardson. “Gigi” was given to her by her sister.
Explaining how the nickname came to be, Richardson said, “My sister was six years old … and she had a TV show she watched called Kiki the Witch and Gigi the Cat. So she gave me the name Gigi and it kinda stuck.”
Richardson was born in Baltimore, Maryland but has lived most of her life in Arlington. She came to our school two years ago from Williamsburg Middle School and has already made herself prominent within the community. She is on the girls’ varsity lacrosse and girls’ varsity field hockey team. It was through fellow Sentry staff reporter Madison McNamee that she learned of the Sentry.
“I just love writing and I had some friends like [McNamee] who’s on my field hockey team that said that it was so fun,” said Richardson.
When she is not out on the field, Richardson enjoys reading classic books. The novels that she enjoys are similar to the ones that the teachers give out in class, and her favorite book is The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. With a sheepish but wide grin, Richardson said that she is a big fan of the popular boy band One Direction and the popular singer The Weeknd.
One day, Richardson would love to travel to Patagonia in Latin America or Australia. Both of the places, particularly Australia, are inhabited by fascinating animals that she would love to see face to face. Richardson is a big animal person although she doesn’t see veterinary school in her future.
“Mr. Brightside” by The Killers (her theme song) starts to play and in walks Lauren Snyder. Snyder, no nickname, is a Jiu-Jitsu practicing, Les Miserables loving junior and second year Sentry staffer. Snyder’s love of Les Miserables came up when asked if given the opportunity to go anywhere in the world and do anything for just thirty minutes, ten out of ten times she would go and see the opening act of Les Mis on Broadway again.
New York and Broadway seem to be a trend in her answers, showing her love for the arts; she even said going to New York for her sixteenth birthday present was definitely a favorite summer memory. At the moment she is in Arlington rather than in the audience of a Broadway show in New York, but she does not mind being here if she is in Ms. Wiedemann’s class.
“I really liked Ms. Wiedemann’s class to be honest…. I have a lot of good memories with her,” said Snyder when asked about her favorite memory involving Yorktown.
Ms. Wiedemann was also the reason she joined journalism after dropping her second language of Latin. Two languages? This girl does it all. Good thing she will be in her class for this year and next.
“Hard work and dedication… and overcoming obstacles” are traits Snyder looks for in a person or story for inspiration, and these traits seem to have rubbed off on her. She wants to pursue a career in nursing.
Snyder is currently not a member of any clubs but is looking for one. Although she is not doing any sports at the school, she does win extra points for practicing “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing” at different gyms, saying “there would be a problem if they had it [Jiu-Jitsu] here [at the school].” She also has great taste when it comes to the never-ending choice between pizza, burgers or hot dogs.
“Pizza definitely by far, especially deep dish,” said Snyder.
“I would definitely go to the future because I can’t mess anything up in the past,” was a smart answer to the serious question of time travel destinations. Though she is afraid of messing up the time continuum, I doubt she could ever mess anything up in real life. Snyder is a sweet, smart and all around great person to interview and I hope I did her justice.
