Photo Essay: Humans of HHS

By Courtney Forsmo, Sabrina Martin, Max Goldberg & Owen McNamara
This project captured a glimpse of lives of many different individuals at Hopkinton High School. Our group was inspired by Humans Of New York a well known blog, created by Brandon Stanton. Stanton has captured many intricate images describing the lives of strangers he has met. Many viewers have been intrigued by the way the simple images he has captured can display a great amount of emotion. His blog quickly gained attention. Inspired by Humans of New York, we decided to photograph Humans of HHS. The photos describe the different lives of many individuals at Hopkinton High. From a simple image, the viewer can witness a sense of emotion and know more about that one individual. We interviewed students and staff all over Hopkinton High School and found many interesting stories and life experiences of the people we interviewed. We realized how talented many individuals are, and we grew to know more individuals from our communities and find out more from their lives.

When taking these photographs, we wanted to display a natural setting similar to Humans of New York. Humans of HHS captures some of the many individuals at Hopkinton and what makes the high school what it is today. As individuals we now know more about our high school and the incredible people with amazing stories that are a part of HHS.

â€œI lived in Martinique, which is a French island in the Caribbean, from 2003 to 2005, and it was an incredible experience--the nicest people Iâ€™ve ever met in my life. I was a teaching assistant in a middle school and a high school the first year I was there and in a university, I taught English conversation classes. I had majored in French in college. I didnâ€™t do junior year abroad, so I thought this was a good opportunity to travel overseas and improve my French. I got the job through the French embassy in Washington D.C. and you have to pick regions of France and I put Martinique as my first choice and I got Martinique.â€ — â€œI lived in Martinique, which is a French island in the Caribbean, from 2003 to 2005, and it was an incredible experience–the nicest people Iâ€™ve ever met in my life. I was a teaching assistant in a middle school and a high school the first year I was there and in a university, I taught English conversation classes. I had majored in French in college. I didnâ€™t do junior year abroad, so I thought this was a good opportunity to travel overseas and improve my French. I got the job through the French embassy in Washington D.C. and you have to pick regions of France and I put Martinique as my first choice and I got Martinique.â€

â€œIâ€™ve always had a kind of love towards the U.S since I was very young and Iâ€™ve always studied English and it was a thing Iâ€™ve never stopped doing and more over there was this feeling inside me that I wanted to grow up a little bit. You always live in the same town, with the same people, with your parents that take care of you. I just wanted to grow up a little bit and I wanted to live the American life to kind of taste it and see what it is in real life.â€ â€œThe main reason the first one is for the language and nothing is better than coming here in school and new people speaking many languages also having a relationship with them. The second reason is simply because I wanted a change in my life and I really wanted to try new experiences, I always was interested in coming here. Iâ€™ve been to Chicago, last year for studying abroad so I worked and said yeah I want to do it so thatâ€™s why Iâ€™m here.â€ — â€œIâ€™ve always had a kind of love towards the U.S since I was very young and Iâ€™ve always studied English and it was a thing Iâ€™ve never stopped doing and more over there was this feeling inside me that I wanted to grow up a little bit. You always live in the same town, with the same people, with your parents that take care of you. I just wanted to grow up a little bit and I wanted to live the American life to kind of taste it and see what it is in real life.â€
â€œThe main reason the first one is for the language and nothing is better than coming here in school and new people speaking many languages also having a relationship with them. The second reason is simply because I wanted a change in my life and I really wanted to try new experiences, I always was interested in coming here. Iâ€™ve been to Chicago, last year for studying abroad so I worked and said yeah I want to do it so thatâ€™s why Iâ€™m here.â€

"I came to Hopkinton because I heard good things about the music program and talking with the teachers it sounded like it was a smart, and caring community, and with the opportunity to do a lot of excellent music. I think the biggest importance of having a music program is so that students discover that they are able to learn how to do music, and that they can have fun, singing, or playing an instrument, or making music in their lives outside of school. Itâ€™s also a place to relieve stress for a lot of students and a lot of students get a chance to express themselves through music. Music is also a big part of our culture and society. Iâ€™ve been doing music since I was about four years old. I started taking violin lessons when I was five, and then I did chorus and orchestra in high school and college." — “I came to Hopkinton because I heard good things about the music program and talking with the teachers it sounded like it was a smart, and caring community, and with the opportunity to do a lot of excellent music. I think the biggest importance of having a music program is so that students discover that they are able to learn how to do music, and that they can have fun, singing, or playing an instrument, or making music in their lives outside of school. Itâ€™s also a place to relieve stress for a lot of students and a lot of students get a chance to express themselves through music. Music is also a big part of our culture and society. Iâ€™ve been doing music since I was about four years old. I started taking violin lessons when I was five, and then I did chorus and orchestra in high school and college.”

â€œThere was word about the fire drill going on in school beforehand. Somebody told me there was going to be a fire drill, so I went to Valerieâ€™s room before my last period class, got my coat, Iâ€™m feeling wonderful!â€

â€œI really enjoy books and I like people, so I thought I would put them together and there we go!" — â€œI really enjoy books and I like people, so I thought I would put them together and there we go!”

"We are the captains of Mock Trial. Our case this year is a civil case and everyone in the club has been assigned a role. We are very excited for our trial and we hope to win this year. We have recruited many new members which is great, and itâ€™s just a lot of fun.â€ — “We are the captains of Mock Trial. Our case this year is a civil case and everyone in the club has been assigned a role. We are very excited for our trial and we hope to win this year. We have recruited many new members which is great, and itâ€™s just a lot of fun.â€

"I started working for the hours when my children were in school. I enjoy the children, the hours are great and I get summers off.f" — “I started working for the hours when my children were in school. I enjoy the children, the hours are great and I get summers off.f”

"We really want to win [the Powder Puff football game. Football is. [Football is] a really competitive sport and itâ€™s really fun. I wanted to try a new sport a get a chance to do something physical. Weâ€™ve been practicing really hard, weâ€™ve been running our plays, we have got it. Especially since we have been practicing outdoors and the juniors have been practicing indoors I think we definitely got an advantage on them.â€ — “We really want to win [the Powder Puff football game. Football is. [Football is] a really competitive sport and itâ€™s really fun. I wanted to try a new sport a get a chance to do something physical. Weâ€™ve been practicing really hard, weâ€™ve been running our plays, we have got it. Especially since we have been practicing outdoors and the juniors have been practicing indoors I think we definitely got an advantage on them.â€

â€œMy mom used to make her own clothes when she was young, so she taught me...and it kind of became my thing to do, I just really loved it." — â€œMy mom used to make her own clothes when she was young, so she taught me…and it kind of became my thing to do, I just really loved it.”

"We want Americans to know our culture factor, especially Italian culture like here there are many stereotypes, and people say 'oh Italians are like this and that',and we hope to explain and actually tell you our culture not just like a specific thing or stereotype.â€ — “We want Americans to know our culture factor, especially Italian culture like here there are many stereotypes, and people say ‘oh Italians are like this and that’,and we hope to explain and actually tell you our culture not just like a specific thing or stereotype.â€

"Iâ€™m very excited. I went and visited over the weekend and I stayed over night and I went an open gym with the volleyball team, and thatâ€™s what I am getting recruited for, so I really hope I get in and all the financial stuff works out because itâ€™s very very expensive to go there. So far, Iâ€™ve applied to Catholic University in Washington D.C, Iâ€™ve applied to Worcester State and Iâ€™ve talked to them about volleyball to, and I might apply to UMASS Lowell but Iâ€™m not sure because thatâ€™s a D1 volleyball school and I wouldnâ€™t be able to play. Itâ€™s either this or Worcester State. I mean, I like Catholic University, but itâ€™s kinda far away. I donâ€™t know if I would be able to play sports there and itâ€™s also like Catholic and Iâ€™m not super religious." — “Iâ€™m very excited. I went and visited over the weekend and I stayed over night and I went an open gym with the volleyball team, and thatâ€™s what I am getting recruited for, so I really hope I get in and all the financial stuff works out because itâ€™s very very expensive to go there. So far, Iâ€™ve applied to Catholic University in Washington D.C, Iâ€™ve applied to Worcester State and Iâ€™ve talked to them about volleyball to, and I might apply to UMASS Lowell but Iâ€™m not sure because thatâ€™s a D1 volleyball school and I wouldnâ€™t be able to play. Itâ€™s either this or Worcester State. I mean, I like Catholic University, but itâ€™s kinda far away. I donâ€™t know if I would be able to play sports there and itâ€™s also like Catholic and Iâ€™m not super religious.”

"This is our first year using ALICE at the high school and just observing it went great. It really did, great response through the staff, and the kids. They did a wonderful job. I was up on the A wing on the second floor and when they announced the intruder was on the first floor, heading down towards the cafeteria, not one classroom on the second or third floor went down those stairs, even though they were closer and the exit door was the closest door for them, they chose to go through the front of the building just in case they ran into the intruder. They made some great decisions. This makes sense. You know, the old lock-down procedure is still a good plan, depending on the situation, if their is somebody in that area then yeah, the traditional lock down is the thing to do, but you add barricading and counter to that, it makes sense to do something than just being a sitting duck." — “This is our first year using ALICE at the high school and just observing it went great. It really did, great response through the staff, and the kids. They did a wonderful job. I was up on the A wing on the second floor and when they announced the intruder was on the first floor, heading down towards the cafeteria, not one classroom on the second or third floor went down those stairs, even though they were closer and the exit door was the closest door for them, they chose to go through the front of the building just in case they ran into the intruder. They made some great decisions. This makes sense. You know, the old lock-down procedure is still a good plan, depending on the situation, if their is somebody in that area then yeah, the traditional lock down is the thing to do, but you add barricading and counter to that, it makes sense to do something than just being a sitting duck.”

HHS Press

HHS Press

Photo Essay: Humans of HHS

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