As I sat in my seat listening to music, I could feel the rumble of the plane landing. I heard babies crying and people frantically speaking in a different language. Surrounded by clusters of people and air-borne for eight hours now, my apprehension was at its peak and I was ready to land. Stepping off the plane in Rome, I took a deep breath and realized that something was different about the air. It was a signal that welcomed me into this new world. As I walked, I noticed foreign signs, which were adjacent to the foreign foods, which were emitting foreign smells. Everything moved so quickly, with people using their hands while they talked and kisses being given from cheek to cheek; and to think I saw all this action just in the time spent walking through the airport lobby!

After our group arrived in the hotel and settled in, my squash coach took me to see something that would set the tone for my entire trip. As I made my way into the Sistine Chapel I didn’t know what to expect, I had no knowledge of its magnitude. But as I looked up at the chapel ceiling I did not feel like I had expected I would. Instead of feeling surprised or shocked at the artwork and architecture before me, I was taken to a place of comfort. I realized that although I was in such an unfamiliar place, finding something that I loved in this new place would not be as difficult as I had thought.

Even though I was in an environment I had never been around before, looking past those differences allowed me to relate Italy to something that I already knew and loved. Living in New York City, I was always in an environment in which beautiful skyscrapers lined the streets, and it was there that my interest in architecture was born. I felt that the type of architecture that existed in my city could never exist anywhere else, and it doesn’t. However, in Italy I discovered a new type of architecture that I came to love just as much. Walking through the ruins I saw more than just miles upon miles of old stones. I saw what could be considered a template for many cities of today, and I saw civilization in the form of art, unlike any other.

Ultimately, going to Italy was an eye opening experience for me because even though I had a wonderful time, the insight I gained was greater. I realized that art exists in many forms and in many places. This experience, in the long run, has fueled me to look for new things and seek the unknowns of culture outside of my own.

-Sion Sennon, ’12

In a close showdown during 9th Grade College Prep Jeopardy, the four groups battled it out over questions of Vocabulary, College Knowledge, Study Skills, and Grammar. It all came down to a Vocabulary Final Jeopardy in which each group had 10 minutes to write a story using as many vocabulary words correctly as they could remember. This is some pretty impressive work! Here were the winning and runner-up entries:

Sareen Pearl, Director of College Prep Programs

On my way from a long day at school to squash I was thinking it was a regular ole Monday (squash practice). I appear at squash ready to volunteer as usual before practice and, to my surprise, I had a match to play at 4:30. I was excited and nervous at the same time like before every match, having no idea that these kids were from ENGLAND.  Standing on Court 4, ready to do introduction, I was nervous to see the size of this kid. As I went to go introduce myself I was shaking and felt cold… I was a nerve wreck.  After intros, hearing Christian say that the number 4 players would be refereeing first and playing second was a big relief, well, not really.

Watching Sion play his match was really tough. I was shaking when I saw how well these kids played. I got colder and colder and more nervous as Sion finished with a victory. Suddenly, there I was on court about to get started, warming up a bit, trying to lose the jitters.

As we spin for serve my hearts beat faster and faster until the racquet hits the floor… my serve. This is were all the action starts, within this first serve I am ready to go. The first game was a piece of cake, but I guess he was just getting warm. He won the next with no problem. The third game was a battle. We both fought for that game and it turned out to be a success for me. Forth game was another battle, it was either win this game and win the match or lose and play the last and final game.  I lost.  The last and final game was also a tough one. Points were long lasting and neither of us was giving up. I wanted to win this match so badly but I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.  The score for that game was 12-10.  I came out with a victory and was very excited.  I deserved that win. At the end of the match I received a plaque with their school logo and name, a little something to remember the time when I played Charterhouse.

-Divine Wing, Captain Team 3

The building was filled with sounds of the impact of a heated squash ball to a wall. The sounds of young and talented players, either victorious or defeated, roamed around the StreetSquash facility on a lukewarm, sunny, Saturday morning. There were kids from all over the east coast at this tournament craving to play some squash, while the StreetSquashers were ready to curb their cravings. Players were entering and leaving the squash courts drenched with sweat, their faces showing signs of hard work and determination. When I entered the squash center, I knew that it was going to be a real challenge. I could feel the competition in the air.

I got to the StreetSquash Center at around 8:30AM, ready to destroy my opponent, whoever they might be. I went straight to the boys’ locker room to change into my Addidas shorts and official StreetSquash t-shirt. Finally, I had to grab the main ingredient to all my squash victories, Betty, my racquet. I exit the locker room only to find out that I have a match right away. After many vigorous battles against my opponent, I come out of my match disappointed and the loser. I feel ashamed because I know that I could beat him, but I still have another chance to redeem myself by playing my next match.

A few hours later after my last disappointing game, I come face to face with my next challenge, playing a full match against my own StreetSquash teammate. I started to lead, winning the first 2 games. I was feeling way too cocky, and my cockiness got the best of me, allowing him to comeback and to win the last three games. I felt terrible, wanting to give up for the day, but after a few hours of calming down, I left the building with my head held high.

-Elhadji Mare ’14

On Sunday, October 16, StreetSquash volunteered at the Breast Cancer Walk in Central Park.  When we arrived at Central Park we broke into groups.  One group was handing out water bottles to the walkers and the other groups were on the sidelines cheering on the walkers.  My group contained Brandy, Kiran, Karan, Shanice, Miguel, Mekhia, Kiran’s dad, and Mark standing on the side cheering at the top of all of our lungs.  We said some different chants to motivate the walkers like, “Big or small save them all!” or “Walk for the cure!” and then of course Karan’s favorite “Boobies!”  We also high-fived a lot of the participants.  It was so amazing to see everyone wearing pink and coming out to support cancer survivors and research.  Seeing a lot of kids there made me even more happy because a change is being made in our generation and we are coming together and preparing to make a difference.  I will never forget this day!

-Kamali Williamson, Team 4

Sasha and I took eighteen 10^th and 11^th graders (plus Hakeem!) upstate over the first weekend of October and it was quite the adventure! I may or may not have taken about 15 wrong terms in New Jersey (I blame the GPS!) but we eventually got upstate to meet alumna Diamond Martin (’11) at Morrisville College around 6:45PM on Friday, September 30.  As it was getting dark, she showed us all around campus where we got to see some awesome automotive facilities as well as the student center, field house, some academic buildings and dorms. I am now convinced that all SUNY tech colleges are built at the top of hills in the middle of the wilderness.  The number of students of color at Morrisville impressed the kids, and Diamond highlighted the importance of introducing yourself to people and putting yourself out there in order to make friends at college. 

After a delicious pizza dinner at a local hangout with Diamond and Jasmine McElveen (’11) (who we picked up from Colgate on the way), we went to our hotel in Utica and crashed pretty quickly. On Saturday morning, after a gigantic breakfast with the biggest pancakes ever, we went to Hamilton College. We had an admissions tour and information session followed by lunch on campus (Hamilton dining is officially StreetSquash approved). After lunch, Hakeem had his interview while the rest of us headed over to the squash courts to meet coach Jamie King and some of the team. While it is against NCAA rules for our kids to play with the team, they were able to use the courts for 2 solid hours of squash! When some tired, they checked out the volleyball game next door and afterwards we met as a group to hear about what it’s like to play squash in college and at Hamilton in particular.  Ronald, a Squashbusters alumnus and current Hamilton junior, also talked about his experience. There is definitely a community vibe at Hamilton where everyone goes to each other’s games, even the obscure awesome sports like squash! Hamilton also doesn’t have a core curriculum which interested a lot of our students. Despite the nasty weather, we had a fabulous day. Then the evening was spent in bowling competition where Nicholas Watkins astounded us all by getting about 5 strikes in one game! He really destroyed everyone and I had to threaten no future college prep trips to keep the showboating down to a minimum.

On Sunday, everyone was definitely tired after the action-packed weekend. But we soldiered on to Colgate where we met Jasmine again for a tour of the campus. Colgate is built on a gigantic hill which was not appealing to some students but they do have a lot of great academic facilities. We also had lunch in the dining hall with Lauren, an admissions intern, who gave us some info on Colgate from her perspective. Jasmine lives in the Harlem Renaissance house which is the most diverse dorm on campus.  There are currently some race issues at Colgate where the students of color feel isolated from the rest of the community and this has come to the forefront through a letter to the editor written in the school paper along with an ensuing school-wide discourse. Jasmine attributes this to most students (white and black both) not getting out of their comfort zone to meet people unlike themselves. She said she tries to meet all types of people and doesn’t necessarily feel the race issues to the same extent as some others who are considering transferring. Many students were concerned by this problem but we emphasized the need to both factor this in and to reevaluate in a couple years when they might actually apply.

All in all, the students and staff had a great weekend.  Hopefully everyone will have a lot to report to their teammates about these schools!

-Sareen Pearl, Director of College Prep