The start of senior year means a deserving break from dog responsibilities for Charlie Schiavo. The Schiavo family brought in a new family member over the summer: an adorable golden retriever puppy. After a couple weeks, it dawned on Schiavo all of the tasks that came along with raising an energy-filled companion.

“My dog has to go out a lot more than you think, basically every time you see her she has to go out. She has to go to a puppy class every week and it is always at the most inconvenient time,” Schiavo said.

Along with a puppy to start of the new year, Schiavo is beginning the dreaded college admissions process. For most seniors, college admissions are daunting and monotonous but Schiavo seems to have it all figured out. He is a big city guy and location plays an huge role in his decision making process.

“I want to be in the city for sure but there are schools that I like that aren’t in the city. If it were up to me, they would be right in the middle of a big city,” Schiavo said.

Being immersed into new cultures and experiences is a very important aspect of Schiavo’s life. His love for travelling and stepping out of his comfort zone are just some of the reasons why he would love to go to college out of state. Meeting new people with new perspectives would be ideal.

“I also don’t think I want to be in Virginia. I would love to go somewhere that would be new to me,” Schiavo said.

Schiavo’s dedication to The Sentry stems from his want to pursue a journalistic profession. He would love to go study and learn more about journalism and pychology once he graduates. The two both connect well with his desire to bring people together through words.

“Journalism is definitely one thing that I want to study. It’s all about connecting with people and reading about what happens in the world. I think that it’s really important for people to know what is going on in the world. I also want to study psychology because it is so interesting to know how people work,” Schiavo said.

This year, Schiavo is The Sentry’s business manager. He handles promos, ads and much more. He hopes to enliven the newspaper and make this year memorable.

“I’m happy that I am doing what I am doing. I pretty much handling the logistics of the paper. So if anyone wants to put an ad in the paper or if we want to run a promo on the dailies on a new issue, that’s my job. I think I’m going to do well with it and have fun with it,” Schiavo said.

Outside of school, Schiavo is very involved with sports and the great outdoors. He has high hopes for his hockey season, for it is his last year on our school’s team. His love for hockey began at a young age through watching the Capitals play at Capital One Arena. It was also in his early years when he grew to love biking through his dad.

“My dad bikes religiously, he’s like a crazy bike dad. I guess it just kinda rubbed off on me,” Schiavo said.

Travel is also something Schiavo grew to love at a young age. He is extremely grateful for his ability to travel and experiencing the way others live. He has traveled almost everywhere, but the one place that stood out the most was Morocco.

“Morocco is really neat. It’s basically the exact opposite of the United States. I went when I was thirteen and I hadn’t seen anything that wasn’t the United States before. So to go to Morocco and see how different it was was kind of shocking,” Schiavo said.

He also would love to travel back in time. He would like to go back to when he was only a year old and in Denver.

“Being able to go up to the mountains every weekend, that would be awesome,” Schiavo said.

Unfortunately, Schiavo can not go back to his time in Denver and is stuck with us on The Sentry. The Sentry is fortunate to have Schiavo as one of our amazing seniors this 2018-2019 year.

Picture this: ten years into the future, after a hard workout and some downtime with her dogs, Eliza Howard heads out to enjoy the nightlife of Sydney, Australia with her friends.

“[It’s] such a cool place, everyone is just really positive and it seems like a really good environment… It’s also one of those countries where you can take an hour plane ride and feel like you’re in a completely different country, because there’s just a lot of aspects to the culture,” Howard said.

If all goes to plan for Howard, this dream will become a reality. Armed with the psychological wit of hit TV show Psych’s Shawn Spencer, Howard has big plans for the future, with a career in journalism a very real possibility due to the importance it holds in the world.

“I think it’s really cool how much it impacts everything in the world, social media, interactions between everyone,” Howard said.

But if journalism does not work out, do not expect Howard to turn to a life of crime. 

“I couldn’t do something horrible. I feel like it would reside with me,” Howard said.

However, if all crimes were legal for 24 hours, Howard might end up stealing a substantial amount of money- but only to pay for college.

Stepping back and focusing on the present day, Howard has been enjoying life after the Washington Capitals lifted their first Stanley Cup in their forty-four year history over the summer.

“It was such a good season,” Howard said.

When asked about her favorite winter activities, Howard was very quick to mention her hopes to pick up some new skills.

“I wish I could snowboard. I can only ski, but if I could snowboard then I would [choose] snowboarding [over skiing],” Howard said.

During her time in high school, Howard, a junior, has only ever had fourth and sixth period lunch.

“[Fourth lunch is] nice, because if you have to work on homework before any other periods, you can do that,” Howard said.

Despite the advantages of having lunch earlier in the day, Howard has a clear favorite.

“I have sixth this year and it’s definitely my favorite, especially on [block days, when] you only have one class [afterwards], so it’s really nice, especially when it’s a Thursday, when it’s lunch and then newspaper, [sixth lunch] is a really nice way to end the day,” Howard said.

Speaking of food, Howard is pretty flexible when it comes to pizza.

“Domino’s has a really nice crust, but I [like] Papa John’s… [the] nostalgia of childhood [from Papa John’s], it’d have to be either one of those two,” Howard said.

Howard has energetic personality and a passion for adventure. These qualities make her an indispensable part of the Sentry, and will help her rise to the top of the journalism world in the future.