By Molly Hawkins

Millie Ness, senior

“There are a lot of issues right now surrounding bees, especially since there was a drought. All of the flowers aren’t really blooming, so there’s no pollen for the bees, and a lot of them are just circling our house, and whenever we go check in to make sure they’re okay, we’re guaranteed to get stung. They’re very antsy, like they’re saying, ‘Don’t take our food!’ so we can’t take any honey, and we still haven’t gotten any honey because last year was our first year when they were just building up their hive. And now with the drought, they’re like, ‘Don’t take our honey!’ So we’re just keeping them for the fun of it. I mean, it would be nice to have honey. But it’s okay.”

Rachel Gooley, junior

“I have been camping with my family since I can remember and even before that. My mom has always loved camping and she’s the one who always plans our trips. I, too, love getting away from town with my family and enjoy living minimally out of a tent for a while. I find that camping tends to give me a greater appreciation for everything that I take for granted on a regular day, such as a dishwasher or a 15-minute warm shower. Though while camping I am limited from such luxuries, I actually like it because it allows me to focus on things I enjoy even more, including playing cards with my family and roasting marshmallows over a fire.”

Skylar Davis, freshman

“ I’ve always loved photography from the time I was little–from being in pictures to taking them myself to yelling at other people that they’re bad at taking them. I use photos as both a way to create art– from taking a million shots of my friends and I goofing off, to taking a million shots of a flower from various angles, I always have a camera somewhere nearby. And while I absolutely love my cell phone, I love Polaroid and professional cameras even more. Polaroids are classic and timeless–even if they disappear for a while, you know they’re going to come back; they’re where photography started. And then there’s the really nice Canon or Nikon cameras that professional photographers are seen carrying–holding one of those gives me a sense of power. A hand-held machine that can capture even the smallest details with a few settings and the click of a button– incredible! But for me, it doesn’t matter what camera is being used. Photography is all about capturing something, anything, that the artist thinks should be captured. Whether that be friends laughing or a political riot or an early morning sunrise, that’s what photography is to me: the art of capturing. And that’s what I love about it.”

Tori Glidden, MassBay student and Hopkinton resident

“My name is Tori Glidden, and I’m passionate about my yoga practice. As someone who puts a lot of pressure on myself to succeed, I often find myself under stress, especially when it comes to academics. I do other forms of exercise, such as boxing, weightlifting, and dancing, but none of them have the same purifying quality both mentally and physically as yoga does. The combination of focusing on deep, concentrated breathing and participating in physically difficult work takes my mind away from stressors and helps me sweat out negativity. In addition to how calming it can be to go to one class, the improvement in my practice in both my mental capacity as well as physical ability after long-term, consistent practice are very gratifying. As someone who likes instant gratification, seeing my own gradual progress and learning to work from where I am on any given day has taught me to be more accepting of myself, which in turn has helped me to be a more productive and successful student, as well as a less stressed person overall. From yoga I have gained a new perspective, and I am grateful for carving out time in my life to take care of myself. I plan to continue my practice my whole life.”

Brian Hall, cross country coach

“I took over for Hall of Fame coach Mike Scanlon in 2006. I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time in meeting Mike in 2005 and he recommended me as his successor. He started the program and coached for 25 years so Hopkinton has only had two head coaches in 36 years now. XC is so different from track in that everyone is training for the same event. That’s the easy part – the hard is that there are D1 scholarship caliber runners, others trying to get in shape enough to just finish and everything in between. The former has a season a month longer due to championship races and obviously the training needs are very different so it’s a juggling act to coach such a diverse group. My racing days are over so coaching is one way I can continue my love of running. I’ve gone full circle as I landed a desirable coaching job after graduating college but my father said I needed to get a real job ! He was of course correct so I worked in Investment Products at John Hancock for 23 years. Now I’ve been able to do what I love.”

Abbi Fischer, sophomore

“Today, I went to the Ocean State Cross Country Invitational, and I ran probably my worst race ever there. First, someone stepped on my shoe, tore a hole in it, and injured my foot. Then, I fell down face-first on the course and finished in a pretty slow time. It was all great though, because afterwards, my teammates were all there to help me and wipe all the dirt off my legs, which I was covered in. And then I went to the beach with one of my friends, and we swam in the ocean instead of going to part of the awards ceremony. And that was really fun and made my day! I really like running because you get to meet people of all different backgrounds that you otherwise wouldn’t have met, and it doesn’t matter who you are, it just matters how fast you run. And you get to really push yourself. I love that!”