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Seniors of CPS: Owen I

Interview conducted by Sophia R.



11:59 a.m: Seniors streaming out of the Auditorium from the Senior Snow Trip meeting, Owen meets me in the courtyard for his interview. We sit on the bench between the Student Commons and the Sculpture, wisps of clouds and blinding sunlight breaking the weeks of gloomy winter weather.  I click record. Welcome, Owen. The interview has begun.


Sofia: So, the first question is: What's something you're passionate about? 


Owen: Um, I think most people know this about me but my main thing is like my sports, so I used to bike a lot, and now I'm running a lot. I don't know, I just find that the community around both those sports is really great, and I can connect with a lot of different people. Like here at CPS for cross country, for example, I can connect with people from all different grades and yeah, it's kind of just something I can base my day around. Like I can plan my day around a run or a ride. And yeah, it brings me just a lot of joy and calm in my day. 


Sofia:  Yeah, cool. What's one of your favorite songs?


Owen: Hmm. I’m gonna have to think about this one for a second. Like an all-time favorite or a recent one?


Sofia: It can be recent or all-time!


Owen: I'll do like an all-time favorite of mine, it's called 24/7/365, by Surfaces I think. I don't really listen to them much anymore, but I feel like that song has just always been good. And it's just-, I listened to it in middle school, so it's kind of been one of my favorite songs for a long time now.


Sofia: Okay, what's one item on your bucket list?


Owen: Um well, I don’t really know. I’m gonna have to think about that one too.


Sofia: It could be like a hobby you’re trying to pick up or want to try, or like a trip you maybe want to take, or a food you want to try?


Owen: Yeah, I think one thing I've wanted to do, and I'm actually getting to do it this summer, is taking a trip with my friends. So, yeah, we're just going to travel over the summer. I'm not quite sure where we're gonna go yet. And I'm also meeting up with another friend who graduated last year. And he's doing a race in Switzerland, I think, so I'm going to try to get out to that. Go support him there. And it's kind something I've been looking forward to for a long time because my brother did a senior trip when he graduated. And I guess it's kind of something that I see as the end of my time in high school, even though I would have already graduated at that point. So yeah, I'm excited for that. 


Sofia: Yeah. Do you have any contenders as to where you want to go maybe?


Owen: Um, well, right now for one of our trips, we're thinking of going to Japan with one of my friend groups. And then, of course, I'm going to Switzerland for my friend's race. I'm not sure what we're doing after that. I don’t know, for me, it doesn't really matter the place we're gonna go. It's just like spending time with friends in a new country. 


Sofia: Cool. How have you changed during your time at College Prep?


Owen: Ok. (laughs) That’s an interesting one. I'd say I know what makes me happy now. I wouldn't say necessarily, like, I'm happier all the time more than I used to be. Like, I was definitely super happy in middle school, and I had a great time. But I feel like now I've grown up, and I've kind of figured out what my passions are, what I really like to do, and what I value most in my life. And I think that brings me the most happiness and the most kind of fulfilling life for me. And I think I was able to find that at CPS just with the community here, and like being able to figure out what my passions are, again, the cycling and the running. And that's just kind of helped me lead a life where I know, like, what my values are.


Sofia: Nice. And finally, what's one of your favorite College Prep memories?


Owen: I definitely think sophomore retreat was one of the highlights of CPS for me. It was kind of the first time we got like- freshman year was all mostly online. And even the end of it was a bit odd because we were still kind of in COVID, but it felt like sophomore year was the first time we kind of got out of that, and it felt like the first time I really got to connect with everyone in the grade. So yeah, I'd say sophomore retreat. And of course, I mean otherwise, I'd say winning NCS with the cross country team was really big because we kind of came from, it felt like coming from where we were at in my freshman year, kind of came from nothing, like maybe bottom, definitely bottom half, of North Coast section to winning now and seeing the improvement that some of the juniors and sophomores have made in the last season has been really really impressive and it's just really fun. And I think it's just like, we all just really deserved it. So I’m really proud of that.


Sofia: Great, thank you!


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