By Eva Smith
Staff Reporter
As Maren Stroup enters her third year on The Sentry and first year as an editor, things are going to be different. Stroup is already busy with assignments for junior year, but in her rare moments of spare time, you may see her sitting on her roof listening to Taylor Swift. After a busy summer, Stroup is ready to take on her junior year.
Even during the summer of COVID-19, Stroup kept herself busy, hanging out with her older sister, travelling to The Outer Banks with her friend and vacationing at Bethany Beach in August. If we were not in a Covid-restricted world, Stroup would love to travel and take a gap year after her senior year.
“My sister took a gap year three or four years ago and she went all over the world and volunteered… and I really wanna go to Bali, Indonesia,” Stroup said.
When asked about places she has been, Stroup talked about her favorite place she has visited, New Zealand. Stroup mentioned the 15 and a half hour flight to the other side of the world and the beautiful scenery of New Zealand. Her mom accompanied her and they went backpacking.
Some more local things that she enjoys include eating at restaurants in the area. Stroup talked about some of her favorite places to eat in Arlington, like Taqueria el Poblano, a Mexican restaurant, and Four Sisters, a Vietnamese restaurant that she raved about.
When talking about music, Stroup fan-girled over Taylor Swift, but she enjoys many different artists including Lorde, LANY and The 1975. She also named “August” by Taylor Swift as her favorite song.
“I like a lot of different genres of music, it’s just Taylor Swift is [the artist] I listen to the most” Stroup said.
In addition to music, movies are a topic of interest for Stroup.
“I also watched Lady Bird but I like Little Women more,” Stroup said, when asked about her favorite movies.
She mentioned that Little Women is one of her all time favorites, but the first movie that came to her mind was High School Musical.
A big part of Stroup’s own high school experience is sports. She plays tennis for our school, and she has been serious about gymnastics since sixth grade. She goes above and beyond and coaches gymnastics as well.
When asked about her pet peeves, Stroup explained her preference for cleanliness.
“It’s not like my room is always spotless, it’s just I can’t live in a messy room for more than like three days,” Stroup said.
She talked about how cleaning her room makes her feel productive and how everyone should clean their room to feel better. Another pet peeve of hers is when no one offers to help when they know they should.
“[I hate it] when I’m cleaning the kitchen and my brother doesn’t offer to help,” Stroup said.
Even with a few technical difficulties here and there, new style editor and gymnastics enthusiast Maren Stroup is looking forward to her third year on The Sentry. We are excited to see what this virtual year has in store for Stroup.
By Maren Stroup
Style Editor
The Sentry is excited to welcome sophomore Eva Smith into our class this year. Smith first heard about The Sentry from a fellow reporter, and was instantly intrigued. This being her first year on staff, Smith is ready to write about a wide range of subjects and build on her writing skills.
“I like newspaper and reading that stuff and current events. I think that that’s really cool. So, [The Sentry] sounded interesting and I have a lot of opinions, but I do not really know how to put them on paper,” Smith said.
Her favorite class being history, Smith is engrossed in current events in the world. She has always been interested in history and staying up to date with the news, especially today with the upcoming election.
“I had a really good history teacher in seventh and eighth grade and I really love learning about those subjects. Especially last year, we got into modern history and World War II and it just really interests me,” Smith said.
If she is not hanging out with her brother, Paul, and her parents, Smith can be found participating in athletics. Having tried many different sports and hobbies, Smith seems to have found her favorites.
“At this school I do field hockey. I play a lot of sports but I really like field hockey. Outside of school I ride horses, so that takes up a lot of my time,” Smith said.
Keeping up with school work and an extracurricular commitment can be difficult, but Smith does it with ease. In her small amount of free time, Smith finds ways to wind down and relax.
“I listen to a lot of music. I think right now my favorite artist is either Lorde or The Neighborhood,” Smith said.
Smith also has many inspirations, and her friends are a big one. She loves to hang out with them and enjoys the friendly atmosphere they bring.
“My friends are a big inspiration to me. Everyone has different interests and they pursue them and they are all unique but we all come together,” Smith said.
That being said, it makes sense that when asked who or what she would bring to a deserted island, she answered with almost no hesitation.
“I never really think about these things. I would bring my best friend Alexis who goes to a different school because I think it would be funny to be on an island with her,” Smith said.
At the end of the day, though, she can make the most of alone time. Smith is a social butterfly, but she also considers herself independent.
“I like being around people but I also like to do a lot of stuff on my own. I feel like I can always do stuff by myself even if I cannot and end up needing help later,” Smith said.
Even though this school year is unique and unpredictable, everyone is ecstatic to have new faces like Smith in the class. The Sentry is ready to have such a positive and talented writer on staff.
