By Molly Kaplow

Swimming sensation and online-shopping fanatic Lauren Fatouros, is one of the newest additions to The Yorktown Sentry. As she begins her virtual sophomore year, she is hopeful for what school has in store. 

Though most people’s summers were disrupted by the coronavirus, Fatouros’ plans remained intact when pools started opening. A majority of her summer was spent at Arlington Aquatic Club (AAC), where she swims almost every day. 

“I swim six days a week. I think it’s really fun and I have a lot of great friends from swimming,” Fatouros said.

While Fatouros commits most of her time to swimming, she has other plans for the future that do not consist of goggles and swim caps.

“My dream is to go to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and be a double major in business and exercise physiology … I want to be in charge of business at a fitness brand so I can combine my love for working out and love for management,” Fatouros said. 

After high school, she hopes to travel far from Arlington. Having lived in the same neighborhood for her whole life, she would love to experience what life is like in different areas of the world. 

“I’ve lived in Arlington my whole life, but I moved two blocks when I was in first grade, so that was pretty eventful … I feel like I would want to live somewhere either tropical or live in Paris. I feel like living in Paris would be so fun. You can go to all of the fancy bakeries and cafes, and I love coffee, so I could try fun coffee drinks,” Fatouros said.

With Fatouros traveling all over the world, it may be hard to locate her. It will be even harder if she follows through with her idea to change her name. 

“I could change my name to something really cool, like, I could just name myself after another celebrity. I could just be like, ‘yeah, my name is Beyoncé now,’ then everyone would be like ‘wow, you’re Beyoncé.’ It would be so fun,” Fatouros said.

While Fatouros would love to change her name to pass for Beyoncé, she knows no one could ever compare to Taylor Swift.

“I love Taylor Swift. [I think she is] underrated… I think that everyone should like Taylor Swift. I like her new album… Fearless was definitely my favorite,” Fatouros said. 

Aside from listening to Taylor Swift, Fatouros enjoys binging TV shows, especially Gossip Girl, outside of school. 

“I really don’t like movies, but I guess my favorite movie would probably be High School Musical because who doesn’t love High School Musical? My favorite TV show is Gossip Girl. I love Gossip Girl; I watched it again over quarantine. It was really fun. I liked it a lot. It’s really funny, too, to see how the rich people live,” Fatouros said. 

Her love for High School Musical is similar to the love Harry Potter fans have for the popular book and movie series. However, Fatouros never understood other people’s interest in the wizarding world. 

“I really never showed an interest in Harry Potter…. Some people were obsessed with it and I never understood it. I have all the books in my house, but no, I could never get it,” Fatouros said. 

Fatouros has an obsession of her own that others do not always understand. That does not stop her from spending countless hours shopping on the internet.

“Well, I have a slight obsession with online shopping. It’s okay. I literally online shop so much, but I feel like sometimes I just leave stuff in my cart forever and never get it. It’s fun. It’s an experience,” Fatouros said. 

In Fatouros’ online shopping sprees, you will not find her shopping for Bermuda shorts. 

“When I was younger, I was obsessed with Bermuda shorts. I had this one pair of jean shorts that I wore in third grade and they were like my favorite shorts ever, and now I don’t know why I did that at all. They’re disgusting and gross, and I literally hate Bermuda shorts. I could literally write a whole essay on how much I hate Bermuda shorts,” Fatouros said. 

Though Fatouros is passionate about writing, enough so that she would write about her hatred for Bermuda shorts, she joined The Sentry as a photographer, rather than a reporter. 

“I liked photography a lot when I took photography so then I decided to apply as a photographer. It was more of a way that I could take pictures of stuff that I would rather take pictures of rather than being just assigned assignments that you were forced to do,” Fatouros said. 

Fatouros’ creativity and photographic talents make her the perfect new asset to this class. She is excited to grow as a photographer and become a part of The Sentry Family.

By Lauren Fatouros

If you are walking around Arlington, you may recognize sophomore reporter Molly Kaplow in her Lululemon shorts, walking her dog, Kirby. However, one thing you will never find Kaplow wearing is a pair of biker shorts.  Though Kaplow has a relaxed personality, her opinions, such as her hatred of biker shorts, are voiced well through her articles in the style section.  

“I hate [biker shorts],” Kaplow said.

After a long spring and summer with little to do, Kaplow is excited for her second year on The Sentry. Over quarantine, Kaplow had to find new ways to keep herself busy, since hanging out with friends was not an option. Kaplow went to the television, where she came across countless movies to keep herself entertained.

“I watched a lot of movies. My favorite was La La Land, which has become my ultimate favorite movie,” Kaplow said.

When summer came and quarantine was still going on, Kaplow took it upon herself to convince her parents to get a family dog.  It took lots of convincing; however, it paid off. Now, she is the proud owner of an English lab.

“I had to put on a presentation and dress up and stuff. But it worked,” Kaplow said.

As summer trailed on and isolation continued, Kaplow and her family escaped Arlington and headed to the beach.  Though the beach is an annual trip for the Kaplow family, this year’s trip was extra special. 

“It was really fun and I got to bring my puppy for her first beach experience,” Kaplow said.

With school starting again, Kaplow is missing the thrill of playing for our school’s volleyball team.  Growing up, Kaplow played many sports including basketball, which she has played since kindergarten, but volleyball was the one that stuck with her.  She now plays on a club team and for our school’s team.

“I started to like [volleyball] and continued with it because I got better at it quicker than I did with other sports,” Kaplow said.

When Kaplow is not playing sports, you can find her cheering on her favorite football team. As a DMV native, you may suspect Kaplow to be a Washington Football Team or Baltimore Ravens supporter, but Kaplow is a New Orleans Saints fan. Kaplow has yet to travel to New Orleans, but with family members and friends living there, she became the Saints’ biggest fan.

“My favorite sports team is the Saints, and my sister lives in New Orleans and my dad’s best friend lives there, so we’re just huge Saints fans because of that,” Kaplow said.

Though Kaplow does not love biker shorts, she does love journalism, which is why she is an asset to the reporting staff.  We are so excited to see what Kaplow has in store for her second year on The Sentry.