By Maren Stroup

Staff Reporter

Bora Yavalar is excited to enter his first year on staff as a reporter. Yavalar is one of many new faces in The Sentry classroom. Even though school started a short three weeks ago, Yavalar has already categorized newspaper as the best class. 

“I don’t really like any of my other classes but I would say Newspaper is my favorite because the people in the class are so nice and it is really fun,” Yavalar said.

One of his favorite out of school activities is going to the gym and hanging out with friends. As the school year has just begun, he looks back at one of his favorite summer activities: travelling. Over the years, Yavalar has been to many interesting and unique destinations. 

“I like a bunch of different places. I really like this island called Anegada in the British Virgin Islands, I like Paris, I like London, especially London. It’s a really cool place. I also really like Venice,” Yavalar said. 

Yavalar describes himself as passionate, and one area he is very passionate about is music. Yavalar is seen with headphones in most of the time, and music is a big part of his life. He had a hard time picking between only having music or his phone for the rest of his life, Yavalar answered slowly but was confident with his choice.

“That’s so hard, probably my phone but I would not like to not have it. Music is more important to me,” Yavalar said.

Yavalar’s favorite artists are Tyler The Creator and The Neighbourhood. Hip Hop and Pop is what he listens to the most, but he likes a lot of different artists.

“I like the eclectic vibe that The Neighbourhood has in their music. It reminds me of the wintertime and cold weather, because the first song I heard was sweater weather and I love that song. I love the Winter because I believe the fashion in winter is better because I like to wear pants more than shorts. I think it’s more stylish.” 

Yavalar also spends time with his family and likes hanging out with his dad. As a young kid, one of his fondest memories is going to sports games with him. He does not follow many big sports teams, but he somewhat watches football.

“I like the Baltimore Ravens because my dad likes them and since I was a little kid we have gone to games,” said Yavalar.

Sports may not be Yavalar’s TV choice, but he is entertained by movies such as The Grand Budapest Hotel. It represents his love for the winter season.

“The reason I love The Grand Budapest Hotel is because ever since I was a little kid, my family has been travelling a lot so I’ve got to experience a bunch of different places. I love winter and cold places because I can bulk up in a Parka and some timberland boots and just look nice. The setting of the movie takes place in a winter setting, and it appeals to that side of me. I love hospitality and seeing that portrayed in the movie is something fun to watch. I also love the director, West Anderson is a fantastic director and his style is very aesthetic and pleasing,” Yavalar said.

Everyone is thrilled to experience this year with old and new reporters. The Sentry is lucky to have a new perspective and to see what Yavalar adds to the paper.

By Bora Yavalar

Staff Reporter

Being the third youngest in her family, sophomore Maren Stroup lives an interesting life. Having plenty of sports and academic work, Stroup certainly has her work cut out for her. 

With five siblings, Stroup has an intriguing family life. With diverse and unique relationships with each sibling, she has the ability to connect with all of her siblings on many different levels.

“I’m close with all of them [siblings] in different ways. I actually don’t see them all the time because a lot of us aren’t home at the same time but I guess it’s a good thing. I like having a lot of siblings because I can have a bunch of different relationships with my family,”  Stroup said.

Along with being a member of a fairly large family, Stroup is also a student-athlete, with gymnastics and tennis taking up a large portion of her week.

“With gymnastics, I’ve been doing it since I was really little and I met my best friend when I first started, and we both still are on the same team and we’ve gone through many different levels together. A bunch of my close friends are from gymnastics. I have done tennis for a long time because it’s the kind of thing my family does…and I like it just because it’s something I’ve always known how to do. I don’t like playing matches all the time, but I do like practicing and I have a lot of good friends on the Yorktown team,” Stroup said.

Along with classes such as French IV and AP world history, high school can sometimes be quite loaded for this Sentry reporter. 

“After freshman year I was overwhelmed with school work and not having time to do homework and staying up late,” Stroup said.

However, Stroup does have classes that she enjoys, with English and especially newspaper highlighting her school day.

“I enjoy English because it has always been easy for me. I also enjoy the laid back environment that The Sentry has,”  Stroup said.

After school, Stroup’s schedule is pretty straightforward. With things that the typical teenager does, Stroup likes to keep a routine.

“I go home and I watch Netflix for like 30 minutes and then I do my homework and then go to gymnastics,” Stroup said. 

Despite her busy schedule, Stroup always finds time to do things she enjoys. She enjoys music, specifically pop and indie.

“I like Taylor Swift because I think her songwriting is really good and I’ve just always liked it, and with bands such as the 1975 and LANY I really like them because it’s a different music style and they have a good beat,” Stroup said.

Along with her passion for pop and indie music, Stroup’s favorite movie is High School Musical Two, quite fitting. 

“I first saw the third High School Musical in theaters when I was younger and I just thought it was so cool that they were singing in the movie and I became obsessed with Gabriela and characters like them and I know a bunch of quotes [from the movie],” Stroup said.

Other than entertainment preferences, Stroup is an avid fan of sushi, having first tried it two years ago and instantly falling in love with the Japanese food staple.

“I started liking sushi two years ago when I first tried it because it isn’t really a heavy food,” Stroup said.

When the weekend rolls by, Stroup has certain things she does to de-stress. After all, high school can be a work-heavy environment.

“I like to go to the school games on Friday nights and then on Saturdays hang out with friends, do some homework and then on Sundays just hang out at home,” Stroup said.

Like many other teenagers, Stroup has some aspirations for the future. She wants to be an interior designer due to her fondness for home-improvement TV shows.

“I kinda wanna be an interior designer, I think that would be cool. So I took the career test that the counseling department makes us take and every single year I got “interior designer” and I really like shows where people are designing the houses, and I have a book from an interior designer named Joanna Gaines and I think it would be really cool to design your own house.” Stroup said.

Looking towards the future, Stroup has some interesting items on her bucket list. She wants to travel around the world and visit certain places.

“Traveling around more would probably be on the top of my bucket list. I really wanna go to Greece and South America. I just really want to go there because it’s so pretty. I also wanna go bungee jumping I feel like that would be cool too,” Stroup said.

With such a loaded schedule, Stroup has an interesting life ahead of her. Regardless, The Sentry is fortunate to have her as a reporter.