By Evelyn Lowen

Staff Reporter

 Last May, Grieco applied to join The Sentry. After his friends encouraged him, he decided it would be a fun class and a great opportunity to learn how the newspaper works. Although Greico is someone who is easy to get along with, he has some antagonizing opinions when it comes to desserts.

“I hate chocolate chip cookies, I just don’t like any desserts that have chocolate chips,” Grieco said.

Even though Grieco will not be able to enjoy the freshly baked Stroup family cookies, he is still looking forward to his year on staff.

“I’m excited to start documenting student events and to get experience with spreading news throughout the school,” Grieco said. 

In terms of the year ahead, Grieco is mainly focused on finishing his college applications. He is mainly focused on state schools, including the University of Virginia, James Madison University, Virginia Tech and William & Mary. Additionally, he has some interest in a few out of state schools because he wants to have a variety. Although Grieco is not entirely sure on which school he wants to attend in the fall, he dreams of going to a big city school, somewhere in New York or California. 

Besides getting his college applications out of the way, you can probably find Grieco somewhere on the track or running around the neighborhood. He is a part of both the track and cross country teams for our school. 

Even though Grieco is a beast on the track, he decided that his spirit animal would have to be a koala. 

“I would say a tiger, well I’m not fast…I run but I’m not good at it. Maybe I would say a koala because it is very contemplative and they think a lot. I would say koala because I like to chill,” Grieco said.

Along with koalas, another one of Grieco’s favorite animals are dogs, specifically, his two year old Jack Russel Terrier named Toby. 

The Sentry is excited to welcome Grieco as one of the newest photographers. He is definitely going to be an impactful addition to the staff this year.

By Kevin Grieco

Staff Photographer

Besides participating on the school’s lacrosse team, sophomore reporter Evelyn Lowen enjoys hanging out with her friends and watching TV. In fact, if she could star on any show that she watches, she would choose Impractical Jokers.

“They go up to random people in Madison Square Garden and say a bunch of weird stuff, and if they don’t do it…they get put on the Loser Board [and have] to do an embarrassing thing at the end. It’s fun to watch, maybe not fun to play, but I don’t know,” Lowen said.

Lowen doesn’t plan on staying in Arlington forever, since she would much rather live in a city — specifically, New York City. That’s just the plan for the near future, though.

“When I’m older and a mom, I would want to be a suburban mom,” Lowen said. “I don’t know [where]. Just nowhere like Idaho, because I feel like that place doesn’t even exist.”

As an adult, she knows her ideal job would entail being a nurse — but her dream job, with no strings attached, differs entirely.

“[I’d be] a chef in a really nice restaurant in Italy,” Lowen said. “I would run it.” When asked if she had any cooking abilities, Lowen simply responded, “No.”

For right now, she would rather take her life month by month. Lowen cannot choose which holiday she enjoys more — Halloween or Thanksgiving.

“I like Halloween because it’s more of a holiday you spend with your friends, but I love Thanksgiving because I love to eat. So [I choose] both, I can’t pick,” Lowen said.

She went on to fondly recall her family’s traditions surrounding Thanksgiving.

“After we all eat, me and my cousins…all just hang out, because we always have [Thanksgiving] in my Annapolis house, which is on the Chesapeake,” Lowen said. “We all go down to the water, and one time I pushed my brother in. He did not like me.” 

About two months after Thanksgiving, Lowen celebrates her birthday, but she does not appreciate the timing. Lowen enjoys sunny summer days far more than bleak winter nights.

“[My birthday is] in winter, in February. It’s the worst time of the year,” Lowen said. “I don’t like school… [but] I like to go to the beach.”

Another given that comes with the territory of summer for Lowen is country music. But she doesn’t stop listening when the season comes to an end.

“I really like country music, even though it’s not summer anymore,” Lowen said. “I’m listening to Brett Young, Luke Bryan, and Thomas Rett a lot. I love all of [Taylor Swift’s] music…I really like her older [music] like Speak Now. ‘Dear John’ is a really sad [song], but I love that one.”

As for her preferred music streaming service, Lowen has a conflict of interest.

“Well, I have Apple Music but I like Spotify a lot more, and I listen to that even though I have to have the ads,” Lowen said.

When Lowen is not listening to her favorite country artists, she can be found talking at length about her family pets.

“I have a dog and a cat, and everyone in my family loves my dog more, so I feel like I have to be team my-cat. My dog is named Cooper and he’s a golden doodle, and my cat is Chase,” Lowen said. “We don’t really like my dog’s name, because we didn’t realize it’s one of the most popular dog names in the world, so I would probably name him something really weird [instead], like after a food. Cheetos, that’s cute.”

Lowen looks forward to a fun second year in The Sentry, and is excited to begin writing articles.