Elie Orenstein, Freshman - Interview Conducted by Rina Huang
Wednesday, October 13, 2021: It is 2:30 pm - the end of the school day! The sun is shining, the breeze is light, and students are walking around in tropical shirts and various non-backpacks for the third day of Spirit Week. The mood is light, and the Humans of CPS make small talk as we get ready for the year’s second student interview. I click record. “Welcome, Elie.” The interview has begun…
Rina: How do you like CPS so far?
Elie: I’m really liking it, I think that... I clicked with people faster than I expected to. And, I don’t know, everybody is just very easy to have a conversation with, more than I expected.
Rina: What did you want to be when you were eight, and what do you want to be now? How has that changed or not changed?
Elie: When I was eight, I wanted to be a marine biologist—I was really into dolphins for a period of time. Um, I think now, I’m still really into animals. I don’t know if that’s like a hobby or something I want to do later. But yeah, I don’t have like, a big idea of it, but I’m still into… yeah, that type of thing.
Rina: How long have you been dancing, and what’s your favorite memory from dance?
Elie: I’ve been dancing for seven or eight years, but really only seriously for the past like three or four. My favorite memory would probably be the second year I performed in the Nutcracker, opening night. I was a clown. I don’t know if you know what that is but they’re very jumpy and very energetic—which is a very tiring role, because you know, you're like onstage jumping and tired but you have to look effortless. I remember that we ran off the stage after our part was over, and everybody just collapsed on the floor, just like in laughter. Yeah, the adrenaline and then once you get off is just an unreal experience—just being there with all my friends is probably my favorite memory.
Rina: What songs do you have completely memorized, if any?
Elie: The song “Party in the USA”—that’s from when I was like seven or eight. I had gone to my cousins’ house, who are like five years older than me, so I used to really look up to them, and they played it. I remember that I went home and memorized the whole song, *laughs* just so I could sing it with them. So it’s still in my memory.
Rina: What’s your favorite genre of music, book, movie, or anything, and why?
Elie: Um, my favorite genre… I like comedy movies. I love to laugh. I don’t know, I think movies are supposed to be light-hearted for the most part, so I just like relaxing and being able to laugh at like, a TV show or something.
Rina: What Olympic event do you think that you could win, and why?
Elie: Uh, *laughs*. I’m not sure I could win any Olympic event. But I don’t know, I would maybe put myself... if I had to choose one, gymnastics maybe? I don’t know; I think that’s the closest to my skill set.
Rina: Where do you hope to travel to, and why?
Elie: I would love to travel to Greece. I mean, Mamma Mia is like, what I immediately think of. Um, but I love like, the style in Greece, and I would love to look at that… I’m planning on watching [the musical] for sure!
Rina: What did you do over the summer?
Elie: This summer I went river rafting in Oregon—on the Rogue River, which was really fun—for like an overnight week trip. You kind of… you raft during the day and then you set up camp at night and just repeat that for a few days. So that was really fun.