Tate Hoefler: "A Running/Nordic Skiing Rockstar"

How would I explain Tate Hoefler in five hundred words? Well I'd start with that he is a fantastic skier and he also runs as a side sport. But other than his sports Tate is a wondrous person. A Vermont native with extreme pride for his state. Like if you bring up anything involving the Patriots, maple syrup, and Vermont in general, he will go into a harangue of why the Northeast is the best part of the United States. Once Tate is older he would love to live in his hometown. That town is Williston, Vermont. When Tate is older he would like to go into one of two things. Either sales or engineering. I think that Tate would succeed pretty well in either one. 

Also another thing about him is that he is overly obsessed with the Patriots. I think he wears a Patriot's jersey two out of five days each week. He knows everything there is to know about the Patriots. It's cray cray.

Tate's biggest inspiration isn't a person. It's and idea. The idea that everything is possible. It's quite an inspiring idea. And I think that Tate follows this philosophy pretty well. Like he has these eccentric ideas about the craziest things. Like once he proposed to me the ideal candy bar. And it honestly sounded pretty life changing. So stay ahead of your time Tate!

Tate’s really proud of the kind of music that he likes. He mainly listens to classic rock or just rock in general. Occasionally he’ll pick up some now pop song that he likes but other than that he just listens to music from the eighties. His all-time fav band is Guns and Roses (btw there’s a Lana Del Rey song called Guns and Roses, I’ll link it).

Tate also hates loud noises. Like he really despises and glares at the tiniest thought of it. I also have a hatred towards random loud noises. Like if I’m casually sitting and the piercing loud fire alarm goes off, I’ll jump and scream in my seat.

One last word that Tate would describe himself with is an individual. And he is quite the individual. He doesn't follow the hypothetical law of status quo and breaks free from societies so called “rules”. He has amazing ideas that could someday change the way that we humans think about out world. It’s kind of inspiring. So Tate keep skiing/running and always keep your head up. Don’t listen to what the haters have to say and charge through life with an independent and confident spirit.

A selfie of Tate. Picture courtesy of Tate Hoefler.

Faith Staley: "Give Peace a Chance"

Image Courtesy: Faith Staley

Ah Faith Staley, the hippie feminist. A friend of mine who has a unique persona. We met in seventh grade in our social studies class. We had a teacher named Mr. Sanderson who made us do a mormon pioneer project. Well Faith took charge and invited our group to her humble abode and made me act as a girl for the project. We basically got an A+ on that project. 

This last summer Faith and I decided to spend one of the last days of summer throwing vegetables off of a mountain. So that’s what we did. We started from Faith’s house and rode to the grocery store to buy vegetables. I believe we bought an eggplant, two tomatoes, candy, and some peace tea. We then biked to PC hill and hiked to the top where we experienced some soaring hang gliders. We then started dancing to the Beatles and began to throw the organics. First we splattered some tomatoes which was quite satisfying. And then Faith viscously ripped open the eggplant and we threw it off. It was a pretty spot on day. 

A picture I took from the day we threw
vegetables off of PC Hill.

She uses coconut oil for everything and is a sucker for ballet. Faith is a Harry Potter fanatic and listens to the Beatles religiously. An interesting fact about Faith is that she has tea parties on roofs. Yes we have climbed onto her roof with tea and water bottles and danced to Wavin' Flag while waving to her neighbors. She attends environmental movie festivals and has even gone to congress with a petition against fracking. All in all, she is exponentially determined to get what she wants and will not stop at a simple no. Faith also started a blog about the sexist dress code at our school. Check it out here: Dresscoded.

Faith also has a weird fascination with ice skating. Like once we were just sitting around and all of a sudden she had an outburst about how badly she needed to go ice skating. This went on for weeks on end until she finally went ice skating. Let’s just say that she was way too happy.

Faith partakes in the Park City Dance Academy and was recently given the role of Raggedy Andy in their version of the Nutcracker. So go Faith! But seriously though, she is an awe-inspiring dancer and is truly amazing. I personally can not wait until I can go see Faith kill it in the Nutcracker.

My final story for Faith is the time that we got stuck in a ball. It was a sunny afternoon near the end of eighth grade and we were at Faith’s house with two other friends. We were having a blast having a tea party until the tea ran out and we ran around her house. I walked into Faith’s garage and saw a deflated hamster ball type thingy. It looked like this: hamster ball. Anyways, someone had the brilliant idea to get inside of it. So one person got in and we eventually all squished up inside of it. Let me tell you that it was super painful and uncomfortable. But we still laughed our heads off. No matter what, you will always have a blast with Faith.

Jeff Pack: "Cher's Ultimate Fan"

Jeff and his sister. Photo courtesy of Jeff.

I recently interviewed one of my closest friends: Jeff Pack. I have known Jeff for an extremely long time. I'm talking like at least twelve years. We basically grew up with each other. I vividly remember having playdates at his house watching Scooby Doo and the Lochness Monster. I also have a memory where he came to my house and we got into an epic controversy about a puzzle and whether or not the picture was of a tractor or a dumpster. Or the time when I tried my first diet coke at his house and we both spat it out.

But a couple of years of ago we wanted to watch Jaws. Being the multi-taskers that we are we also had to make Ghirardelli chocolate brownies. On the box it asked for one and 1/3 teaspoons of water. Well being the idiots that we were we thought that it was eleven thirds teaspoons of water. So we put eleven teaspoons into the mix. It became incredibly watery and we asked Jeff’s mom about it and she just bursted into laughter. I guess you could say that that is the reason why we have to take a math class everyday.

Jeff really loves Cher. I mean he really loves Cher. He is so obsessed with her that when ever I go to his house we listen to his endless Cher CDs or we watch his DVD copy of Cher's Farewell Tour. I also am convinced that he knows the lyrics to every Cher song ever. Here is one of our conversations earlier. I asked him: so why do you love Cher so much? His response: "She is the greatest singer and actress in the history of the world! I mean obviously." That was literally his exact response.

But besides for Cher, Jeff actually does karate and is currently two belts away from a black belt. He loves a double double at In-n-Out Burger and a cold diet coke. An interesting fact about Jeff is that he is friends with Mr. Macias. Yep the burly math teacher that we have all come to love. I have personally heard Jeff and Mr. Macias talking about me and other fellow classmates. They kind of have a strange relationship. Like how Mr. Macias will tell Jeff all about his upcoming jokes that he will tell in class. (weird right.) Jeff loves to talk about Cher. But no matter what you do, do not think that he is talking about Cher Lloyd. I have personally made that terrifying mistake.

Cher. Photo courtesy of Jeff.