By: Sam Quinn
Staff Reporter
As Charlie Finn’s high school years are reaching an end, the senior is excited and eager to enter a new chapter of his life. Finn is an experienced member of the Sentry with a great passion for writing and journalism. Finn’s passion started in middle school and continued to expand as he followed his older brother’s equally determined and passionate footsteps in joining The Sentry. It is obvious Finn looks up to his brother.
“He went to college, did ROTC and now he’s serving four years as a marine which I’m pretty proud of,” Finn said about his brother.
Finn’s hard work and dedication to The Sentry culminated this year with his ascension to head-editor of the paper. This achievement greatly demonstrates Finn’s worth ethic and success in and out of the classroom.
“If I had to describe myself in one word, I would say ambitious. I’m a guy who likes to dream big. I like to set goals for myself and make a splash,” Finn said.
Finn’s ambitious mindset has translated well in other areas of his life too, including the golf course. He has been a dedicated member of the Yorktown Golf team all four years of high school. When asked why golf is his favorite sport, Finn had a unique answer that showed a bit of his determined mindset.
“It’s a very mental game. You can practice your swing a million times but if you can’t replicate it on the course then it’s not gonna matter. Figuring out how to optimize your practice and get better is really difficult. The challenge of improving yourself as a player is what I like about it,” Finn said.
Finn is also somewhat of a contrarian. For most students, freshman or senior year is their favorite year of high school. When I asked Finn this, his response was atypical.
“Contrary to popular belief junior year was probably my favorite. People always complain about taking your SATs and you have so much homework and blah blah blah, but it’s really not that bad. You kinda just get through it and all the sudden it’s senior year,” Finn said.
Most seniors do not know where they want to go up until they actually apply; even then they are not really sure. Not Finn. When Finn was asked about his college plans, Finn was quick to tell you exactly what his plans are.
“I think I will probably end up at Virginia Tech but I want to go to Georgia Tech in Atlanta. I like Georgia Tech because they have great sports teams but they aren’t overbearing to the rest of the school,” Finn said.
It is obvious that Finn has had a marvelous time during his high school years. When Finn was asked what exactly he enjoys the most about high school, his answers were quite interesting and unique.
“I think [high school] is a very unique time in your life because you’re so close to so many different people and so many people with diverse and intriguing backgrounds,” Finn said.
During the past few years that Finn has been part of The Sentry, he has made a very positive impact. He is looking to finish out this year strong and show how integral he is to The Sentry.
By: Charlie Finn
Head Editor
As the sun sets, Sam Quinn etches yet another tally mark onto his castle wall. Joel Embiid’s voice rings out, letting Quinn know more zombies are near. He grabs his hand crafted, carbon steel samurai sword and makes his way down the castle steps, only to be greeted by a flood of hungry zombies. For a minute, Quinn becomes Tom Cruise from The Last Samurai, and wipes the castle clean. Embiid, the person Quinn would choose to survive with during a zombie apocalypse, rushes down the steps, gun in hand. He hears the deafness of the blood stained corridor and looks over to Quinn, who is holding a zombie head as his prize.
“Call me Samurai Sam,” he tells Embiid.
“Anata no negai wa watashi no meireidesu,” Embiid responds. “Your wish is my command.”
This is Quinn’s vision of an ideal zombie apocalypse. He believes a castle would be the best spot to set up camp.
“I think it would be easy to defend. I was gonna say prison but I feel like they would swarm too easily. A castle on a huge hill,” Quinn said
One of Quinn’s most coveted skills is his knack for survival. His zombie survival skills come from watching a few seasons of The Walking Dead; however, his real life survival skills come from games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto. When presented with the choice to fight either a mountain goat or an alligator, he did not jump to a decision. Instead, he asked for clarification on the biome. If he was fighting near water, he would choose mountain goat.
“Because they don’t have really sharp teeth, they’re really fast and athletic, but alligators, can’t they run like 30 miles per hour? Also, I feel like the alligator would drag me into the water,” Quinn said.
One thing going for Quinn in this fight might be his hidden talent. At first sight, Samurai Sam looks like a regular Joe. That is, until you find him on a basketball court.
“I have hops, I can grab rim. Most people don’t think I can because of my skinny fixture and I don’t have big legs but I can,” Quinn said.
Quinn’s athleticism comes in handy with the sports he plays. Quinn runs cross country and track, and is also a part of the school’s rifle team. This summer, you could have found Quinn running on the beach in Miami where he spent his summer. Quinn did a lot of other things this summer, however, he was caught off guard when asked what learning he did.
“Yeah, I didn’t really learn,” Quinn said.
Although he did not learn anything this summer, Quinn may have spent some time writing. When asked why he chose to join the Sentry, Quinn had a great response.
“I’m a good writer and I like to write a lot. Out of all the things to do at school it’s probably my favorite thing to do,” Quinn said.
Quinn joined the class because writing is something he is passionate about, a good quality in any first year reporter. Although his survival in a zombie apocalypse may not be certain, one thing is: Samurai Sam will be a great addition to The Sentry ranks.
