 Emily Nguyen '27 from Vietnam decorates one of the two trees in the dorm with ornaments collected through the years . "I love Christmas,” she said.”It is my favorite holiday because most people from different countries celebrate it in many different ways. It's something that the world has in common and joins all of us.” However, after having celebrated this holiday in her country with her closest relatives since she can remember, this year things change. Her first Christmas in America is just around the corner and she is very excited about it: "I am looking forward to winter break. My current plan is to stay with Nola (referring to Nola Daninger '27), which is my closest American friend in North Cross. I think we will have a lot of fun with a lot of American activities included such as going skiing, drinking hot chocolate while watching movies together, having big dinners with her family, playing board games..." She will spend her first Christmas away from home, but America welcomes her with open arms for a new experience on this long trip. After a long year of waiting, the Christmas season has arrived. The dorm every year decides to decorate its spaces to make its residents feel at home on these dates, well known for being an occasion in which family reunions take place.
0 Comments
 Everything comes to an end. After having an incredible volleyball era, Viktoriia Iarkova ‘25 and Milica Andjelkovic ‘26 evaluate the season and all the work done in the past months. Millica: “ Volleyball season was good, we had a great team. I think we did really big improvements in all the skills. I am proud of all the girls. I am looking forward to the next one.” .In the other hand, Viktoriia opens up about her feelings after ending the season in a deserved second place, “ My volleyball season was full of different emotions. We worked hard, it was much harder than last year because we were more locked in, but it was worth it. At the same time, it was disappointing sometimes, but I think every sport has this feeling.” They are asked what it is like to work with each other and they are clear that having excellent players is okay, but above all GOOD TEAMMATES is fundamental for success. Milica points out how joyful it is having Vi (the way she refers to her) as a peer , “Vi is a great teammate, she is the one that is always going to cheer us on.”Viktoriia makes the same with her, “I think we have good match because we have the same culture. The good thing, even though sometimes on the court we have some problems, is that outside of the school, in the dorm or like in classes she is still a good friend and a good person. I guess we learnt how to divide sport and our communication.” Even though the volleyball season is over they are still going to be teammates, but now, in basketball. Milica’s first feelings: “I love basketball, I think the team is good, we have very good players. We will see how it goes.” Viktoriia’s: “I have never played basketball before, I was kind of nervous, but the coach is really nice. He is not paying attention to the fact that I have never played. Also, we do exercises that help us to be stronger, which is great.”
 Ghosts, witches and the dead come out of their lairs for the most important night of the year: Halloween. North Cross School wanted to celebrate with trunk or treat night, which consists of clubs decorating cars and giving candy to the little ones at the school. Parents, children, grandparents and everyone attended this great event. Students and staff were included notably, one was science teacher Getulio Brazil, posing with his daughter in a remarkable caveman costume. “It was my first time and I had a lot of fun,” Brasil said.“My daughter didn't know what was going on. She's only 5 months old, but my son really enjoyed it. When I ask him about his favorite thing about Halloween, he always tells me ‘Candy, I love candy,’ so we were all very excited to be a part of this.”
 This image reveals how the dorm supports theirs even if it is many kilometers from home. On November 7th, Thursday, North Cross had the merit of playing in the semifinals against Seton High School. During dinner, the international students wanted to watch the exciting game. Victor Latz '27, a Junior Varsity Soccer player, the one who raises his arm pointing to something that catches his attention, reveals his emotions about the game that his teammates lived in: “The game was very good. The best thing about it was the intensity that my Varsity teammates had in the first minutes, which made them score at the very beginning. They tried to win and didn’t give up until the final second of the game. It was a really tough team and they played really well. I enjoyed the game although we lost.” As Victor comments, NCS lost by such a fought score of 2-4. In addition to Victor, in the dorm there can be found other great soccer players who lived the game in their own flesh, these are Mario Jimenez ‘25, Cesar Suarez ‘25, Kamen Petkov ‘25, Jason Bach ‘25, and Alejandro Almenas ‘25. Specifically, the latter thanked the other students of the building and the staff for the support given: "I feel quite proud and very happy that the dorm can support us because it was a very difficult match. Knowing that they were supporting us from the outside gave us a little more motivation and energy to win the game."
 Maria Albishah '27 dresses like a teenager from the ‘70s during spirit week. The ‘70s
was a glorious era marked by the birth of new styles of music, such as disco. Also, this era is known as a decade of fashion freedom. Maria combined both elements very well in the photo. She explained why she wanted to be part of this., ‘’ ‘I dress up because I want to participate, and also, to win,’’ she said. ‘’I like how I look blond, maybe I should dye.” Something that is unknown just by looking at the picture is the outfit in its entirety. She wore bell bottoms, widely used at the time. [After not winning one of the three prizes, the Herald polled students about who looked best on Decades Day, and Maria won the poll (and homemade cookies)].  This is not just a highlight from my summer, this image captures one of the most important things in my life, the moment when I take a plane to a place 6000 km from what I call home, Spain. Seven days ago I was in Madrid without knowing what was going to happen to me, but luckily behind the screen was my mother (Ana), with a smile from ear to ear. She was trying to put on a good face and calm me down with it, but I know that inside it was also a hard situation for her. Making it clear that everything was going to be fine, as usually mothers do. “Remember, we have been through very tough things together, always together, but now is your turn to go your way. I perfectly know how strong you are and that you can handle everything on your own, but if you need help you just have to make a call and mommy will always be there for you”, my mother told me after taking that picture. Although it is not visible in the image, I was broken inside. A few minutes before I had started to reread the letter that both my family and friends made me and at that exact moment I didn’t know if I really wanted to leave. All year I had been saying that I wanted to clear myself because I thought everything was against me, but here I realized that I was the only one who wanted to see it that way. Right now, I am feeling happy and excited about being in Roanoke, at the end of the day, time decides.
|
I am VictoriaMy name is Victoria Real. I am 15 years old and I am an exchange student from Spain. I like being around my family and friends, but even I miss them, I have found a new ''home'' in Roanoke. Also, I play volleyball and I love watching TV. Archives
January 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed