1. The Panther Voice
By Victoria Sheridan
They said we couldn’t do it. They
laughed when they heard. They rolled
their eyes. They scoffed.
At first, we certainly didn’t blame them.
It was different. It was crazy. It seemed
like a pointless and unproductive use of
time.
No, at first, we thought we were crazy,
too. Annie Sourbis and I were about to
spend an entire month creating a prom
dress...out of duct tape.
As you may already know, this year,
the senior externship was required of all
seniors. From May 14 to June 8, all seniors
were given the mandatorily unique op-
portunity to do and to experience for
at least 120 hours. While some people
chose to volunteer, research and work
at hospitals, labs, schools, and more--all
noble pursuits--we decided to spend the
extended time taking the “personal inter-
est project” route.
In all honesty, we thought that our
application forms to do this project were
lost among the many great proposals. We
imagined that somehow, we got past the
watchful eyes of Dr. Haubner and Mrs.
Tina. We were very much expecting a
flat-out rejection, a laugh in the face or
even some form of public humiliation
at the very idea- we were to create a duct
tape prom dress.
Surprisingly, we received no notification
of a denial and on May 14, we began.
My friend and fellow senior, Annie
Sourbis, and I wanted to do this project
for a number of reasons: for one, we like
spending time with one another; two,
we wanted to do something unique for a
formal event that thrives on conformity;
and three, probably the most defining fac-
tor, our other externship ideas had fallen
through.
I also knew that I wanted a “nice” dress
for my senior prom. Months before, I
began my search to find the perfect one.
Unfortunately, I was met with “nice”
dresses at steep prices. I also became too
tired to find a good dress that was in the
price range I was most comfortable with.
So, I guess that’s why I decided to dedi-
cate a month to work the hardest I ever
have on almost anything in my life.
I had heard of the “Stuck at Prom” col-
lege scholarship competition by “Duck
Brand” duct tape years ago. It sounded
like a funny--albeit slightly stupid--thing
when I had first heard about it. I also
thought the dresses were horrific. How-
ever, as my search for a dress became
progressively hopeless, I remembered that
silly contest. In the depths of my despair
over not finding a dress, my rationale for
creating a duct tape one was that it would
cost less and would be more fun.
Now, I knew that the idea was a little bit
out there even when I decided on doing it.
I also knew that even my creative partner
(my wonderful mother) would not go for
it, and we’ve had a history of collabora-
tive projects that were a little bit out there.
Still, I was not about to spend another
minute perusing another prom dress web-
site. That was reason enough for me.
Despite my belief that I was actually tak-
ing the easy way out, it was quite apparent
that there was little expectation of us. The
doubt was palpable even in the voices of
those who offered words of encourage-
ment.
A lot of advice was thrown in our direc-
tion; there was the suggestion of colors
to use and there was the opinion of how
to create it. However, the most common
piece of advice, by far, was to have a back-
up dress.
“I know most people did not believe in
particular since my wardrobe mostly con-
sists of plaid, button down shirts, sweat-
ers, sweatshirts and only jeans,” Annie
Sourbis says, “they probably are shocked,
but I think I shocked myself the most.”
Even from the beginning, we were faced
with the kind of adversity we did not ex-
pect. Upon hearing about our project, one
teacher proclaimed: “This is what is wrong
with society.”
“I care about both of you and I think
you’re both great people. And I am sure
that you both will be successful in life, but
it will probably take you guys awhile,” one
friend said.
Of course, we took all of these com-
ments in stride, but they definitely pushed
us to work harder and we did. We ended
up spending a little over three weeks on
the dress and accessories. It added up to
139 hours and 57 minutes of designing
and creating. It concluded on Monday,
June 4--the day before prom.
Using under 15 rolls of the official col-
ored duct tape, some dollar store duct tape
for underneath, super glue, some fabric
underneath, some paper bags and a lot of
paper towels underneath, we created our
vision of a fun and classy duct tape prom
dress.
Along with the dress, we created a duct
tape clutch, a duct tape corsage, a duct
tape cocktail ring and covered my shoes
in duct tape. All the flowers (including
the ones on the dress) are completely duct
tape. I also had duct tape “nail polish.”
After all is said and done, we can
honestly say that we haven’t worked that
hard in a very long time. Each day was a
challenge. We definitely would not call
ourselves artistic masterminds or fashion
prodigies, which made it all the harder.
Inside This Issue...
Opinion.......................pg. 2
News............................pg. 3
College Map............pg. 4-5
Reflections..............pg. 6-7
Class of 2012..............pg. 8
Stuck at Prom Competition: Two Students Pull Off the Unexpected
By Abby Golfo
A few weeks ago, some of you
may have noticed a group of teach-
ers sitting in your French, Spanish,
or Italian classes observing your
lessons and taking notes. For those
of you who did not know what was
going on, these teachers were part
of the Tri-States Consortium.
The Tri-States Consortium is a
group of teachers from similar
schools throughout New York,
Connecticut, and New Jersey. Ev-
ery few years, the Ardsley School
District chooses a different depart-
ment for the consortium to evalu-
ate—this year they selected the
language program.
To get feedback from parents and
students about the language pro-
gram, the district sent out an online
survey while the Consortium met
separately with panels of parents
and students. Although the school
district has not yet received the
evaluations from the Tri-States
Consortium, they will
be receiving them soon.
When the Tri-States
Consortium does make
the recommendations,
the district will, according to
Superintendent Dr. Lauren Allan,
analyze the report and suggest a
plan to incorporate the changes.
What changes can we expect to
see for the language program in
the future? On the strengths of the
language program, Dr. Allan says
she is proud of Ardsley’s “push for
oral proficiency,” so there will defi-
nitely be an emphasis on speaking
in language classes throughout the
future. She also commends the fact
that language classes are available
from middle school until Advanced
Placement in the High School.
As for improving the language
program, Dr. Allan would really
like to expand to include lan-
guages like potentially Arabic or
Mandarin. She says the school is
currently looking at Mandarin and
that it would probably “start as a
club,” because it is hard to find
certified teachers. Meanwhile, a
recent change to the language pro-
gram was made regarding honors
classes. There will no longer be
honors classes available for lan-
guage students in Levels 1 and 2,
because, says Dr. Allan, the class
sizes would be too small for single
sections like French and Italian
that don’t have a large number of
students to begin with. However,
the honors classes will be resumed
for Level 3 language students.
Hopefully, future emphasis on in-
class speaking and the addition of
new language programs will help
students become fluent and able
to communicate in a very diverse
world.
Evaluating Ardsley’s Foreign Language Program
(Above) Annie Sourbis and Abby Golfo
show off their creation
Heather Sommer, Dima Chaar, Jennifer
Ognibene and Abby Golfo smile for pic-
tures during pre-prom
The shoes, clutch and corsage cre-
ated with the use of duct tape by
Annie and Abby as accessories for
prom
Continued on Page 3

2. The Panther Voice
Read this article because #YOLO
By Becca Leibowitz
Rumor has it, you only live once.
Anyone who may have forgotten
this very important truth has cer-
tainly been reminded of it in the
past few months, thanks to singer/
rapper Drake. He has informed us
of this vital fact of life in his recent
hit song “The Motto,” with the lyr-
ics, “You only live once, that’s the
motto: YOLO.”
Lately, YOLO can be seen and/or
heard everywhere we turn. For ex-
ample, #YOLO has been trending
on Twitter nonstop for weeks on
end. Scroll down the newsfeed on
FACEBOOK and you will see nu-
merous photo albums titled YOLO
and status updates that end with
the now infamous phrase. You’ll
hear it probably at least once a day
just walking through the school
hallway or in your class.
So what’s wrong with a little
reminder that life’s short and we
should live it to the fullest? Well,
maybe nothing. However, you are
much more likely to hear YOLO
used in the context of, “omg took
20 shots last night, YOLO” instead
of “Wow, climbed up Mt. Kiliman-
jaro, what a beautiful view, glad I
did it because YOLO.” Consider-
ing the context of Drake’s song,
the lyrics of which are not even
close to appropriate for me to print
here, I think it’s safe to assume that
Drake probably uses YOLO as an
excuse to party hard.
I must dwell on the irony of this.
Since YOLO, wouldn’t it only make
sense to ensure the longest life
possible? So using it as an excuse
to do whatever it may be doesn’t
seem to make a whole lot of sense.
Then again, sometimes YOLO is
just used to mean “why not?”…
and “why not?” moments are of-
ten some of the best moments.
Here are a few randomly se-
lected best (or worst) examples of
YOLO I could find on Twitter and
elsewhere. (Some of them might
even be your own posts!):
Tweeting in the shower bcz
YOLO
Almost died at a furniture
store today by getting trapped
underneath a couch recliner.
#YOLO
When life gives you Justin
Bieber, take him & run. YOLO
Dancing around in ma garden
wearing my bikini pretending
to be nicki minaj in the star-
ships video... #yolo
Waking up at 1am to get
oraange juiceee yolo
About to mountain bike
through a thunderstorm #Yolo
I’m not bringing my notes to
class. YOLO
So proud of myself. I built
the lego version of the White
House #yolo
Saying yolo after saying yolo,
because yolo.
Then there are those who YOLO
in the following manner:
You only live once, but if you
do it right, once is enough.
YOLO
Now that’s a YOLO I can live
with.
Photos: Google Images
*Disclaimer: Content that appears in The
Panther Voice does not necessarily represent
the views of the paper or of Ardsley High
School.
Just Be Yourself
By Emily Choi
The weather is getting hot and the
students are getting restless.
For the seniors, though, life is
pretty good. They’re working at their
externships, have gotten into col-
lege, and are waiting to get out of this
tiny town called home. Before the
impending exodus of the seniors, I
wanted to get some parting thoughts
from three senior girls who I had met
through sports.
Senior Simone Webb, whom I had
met through spring track, answered
my questions with ease. When I
asked if she had any advice for un-
derclassmen, she said, “The best high
school experiences are had when you
become comfortable with who you
are and when you don’t compromise
your beliefs for anyone. Once you
do that, you’ll enjoy everything that
comes your way.” She also added the
positives of being actively involved
in athletics: “I’ll miss volleyball the
most. Volleyball basically defined
high school for me and if it wasn’t for
volleyball then I don’t know who I
would be as a student or as an Ards-
leyan in general”.
Another senior named Madi Di-
naso, who I had met through soccer,
also gave me her input. She is actively
involved in athletics, student govern-
ment, and is an overall caring person.
When I became a part of the soccer
team, she helped me feel included.
When asked if she had any advice to
give to the underclassmen, she said,
“My advice is to stay loyal to your
close friends and take advantage of
any opportunities that come your
way to make your experience in high
school fun and enjoyable.”
When I asked her looking back
what she would have done differently,
she said, “I wish I learned quicker
that being cool isn’t so important and
that I had tried to become friends
with a greater amount of people.”
Similar to many others, it seems
sports were an important part of her
high school life: “I will miss my varsity
sport teams the most to be able to play
with and become friends with so many
different girls, and learning and grow-
ing together, was amazing.”
The third senior I talked to was De-
nae Kassotis who I had met through
soccer. She said that the funniest
experience she had in all her years
at AHS was “seeing the guys dance
at senior revue. They danced to “I
Want You Back” by N’Sync and it was
hilarious.” When asked if she had any
words of guidance for the underclass-
men, she said to “have fun with your
friends and do not be concerned with
what other people think.” Her favorite
class and teacher of all was “freshman
English and my favorite teacher was
Mr. Baird. Mr. Baird did a great job
at acclimating my classmates and me
to high school. I looked forward to
going to his class every day because
he’s such an inspirational and interest-
ing person. I trust him completely and
have always taken his advice without
question.” Denae said that if she could
do anything differently “[she] would
have focused more on school work
freshman and sophomore year.”
What seems clear is that the seniors
find Ardsley akin to a lepers’ village—
something to be avoided at all costs
and fled from immediately. Sports
played a huge part of their lives during
high school. Most importantly, one
thing that all three girls stressed was
the significance of being yourself and
not caring about what others think.
Unsurprisingly, they all had great
things to say about the amazing teach-
ers who we couldn’t succeed without.
We will definitely miss the seniors. I
personally will miss Simone, Madi and
Denae. Thanks for your advice; we
underclassmen will take all you have
said to heart and will be better for it.

3. Continued from page 1
Stuck at Prom Competition: Two Students Pull Off the Unexpected
My senior externship project, which
I completed with Ali Bohrer, took me
far from Ardsley, to a district of New
Orleans devastated by Hurricane Ka-
trina, the Lower Ninth Ward.
This ward of New Orleans Parish
(the Louisiana equivalent of “county”)
is a little bigger in size than Ardsley,
but now is home to less than 2,000
people; down from 14,000 prior to
Katrina. Juxtaposing the Lower Ninth
Ward with a town in the neighboring
Saint Bernard Parish (an area that had
even worse flooding) elucidates the
tragic effects of Katrina lingering in
the area.
Many places where houses used to
stand in the Lower Ninth Ward are
empty plots with overgrown grass,
schools are closed down and falling
apart and not one business has re-
opened after the storm. In the neigh-
boring area, a new school welcomes its
students with an Olympic-sized pool,
football stadium and fully equipped
library, more similar to a college cam-
pus than a public high school. Strip
malls line the main avenue of this area
and houses fill the streets. The differ-
ence is blatant and highlights socio-
economic and race divisions in the
country.
My externship helped me under-
stand how these differences arise and
gave me the opportunity to help the
community rebuild itself. My volun-
teer hours consisted of working in the
Lower Ninth Ward Village Commu-
nity Center. Mostly I helped organize
the center, file
papers, clean out
rooms, and set
up new applianc-
es: menial tasks.
However,
the people I
met during my
stay—workers
at the center
and children
who came to a
weekend long
camp run out of
the center—re-
ally shaped my
experience. All
three of the
center’s workers
do not look upon
their work at the
center as a job,
rather a calling,
something they
were born to
do. One of them
goes as far as say-
ing that without
working in the center to help improve
the lives of others, he would not be
able to sleep at night. The dedication
these men have to the center and to
changing the way the US approaches
natural disasters is infectious.
This experience opened my eyes
to a whole new world. I was raised
in a town where everyone (or nearly
everyone) completes high school
and then continues their education
at college. In the Lower Ninth Ward,
most children do not aspire to attend
university, but they are not the ones to
blame. They are bussed to schools up
to an hour from their homes, return
after dark and switch schools frequent-
ly. For me, AHS was more than a
school; it was a community, a place to
learn with my peers, but also from my
peers. The people in the Lower Ninth
Ward have no sense of community—
children attend different schools and
there are no town parks or stores to
build relationships and turn neighbors
into friends. If the Community Center
continues to expand its services and
house volunteers, hopefully the Lower
Ninth Ward will start to resemble a
town like Ardsley with a strong sense
of community and a far-reaching sup-
port network.
The workers at Michaels, Jo-Ann’s and
the dollar store probably saw us more
than our own parents during the three-
week period. Some days, we spent up to
14 hours in my badly-ventilated basement
with the fumes of duct tape and Krazy
Glue overwhelming us. There were days
when 4AM was our studio-closing time.
Both of us are night owls, so those 4AM
days began at noon. The one day that we
tried to have a 9AM start, we ended up
having a 5 hour nap on the two uncom-
fortable couches in my basement that
suddenly became heavenly clouds.
At times, this project was intensely
stressful. We would try something out
and it wouldn’t work. Then, we would try
something else and that wouldn’t work
either. We would question ourselves, why
we were doing this, and give in to all the
negativity we were surrounded by. How-
ever, we kept on going. We had to experi-
ment and take chances. We had to think
about getting it right and not about how
much time we would lose. We had to get it
done. We even had a picture of Tim Gunn
with his trademark “MAKE IT WORK”
phrase captioned underneath, hung on
our wall of ideas.
Annie and I spent an average of 10 hours
a day together doing something that we
both had never even imagined trying
before. Spending that much time with one
person in such a stress-inducing environ-
ment could drive both parties insane, but
somehow, we made it out with our friend-
ship still intact.
“I do not think I’d be able to spend this
much time with anyone else. Abby and I as
partners works. She puts up with my hab-
its and I think she’s entertaining …. and
her mom feeds me,” reflected Annie.
I believe the same of Annie. We worked
it out together. After all, it was about the
dress. It was about proving ourselves.
It was about getting it done. We had a
mutual goal that we passionately wanted
to attain.
Passion was a big part of this that I don’t
think everybody truly understood during
the process. Many people that know us
pretty well thought that we would not
take this seriously. After our final product,
many confessed their initial hesitance and
doubt.
I don’t think that I’d be able to put into
words how passionate we were during the
whole experience. We were genuinely in-
vested in this project. We didn’t take short-
cuts. More often than not, we took the
longer, yet more efficient path. We would
get frustrated and feel completely hopeless
at times, and we kept going.
The senior externship is supposed to be
a teaching and learning experience. The
administrators encourage us to intern at
a place that would allow us to experience
a prospective job. Annie and I agree that
we both won’t be entering the duct tape
prom dress business (and hopefully never
see duct tape or super glue again), but this
was an experience that we definitely don’t
regret. We wouldn’t do it a second time,
but it was well worth it.
As we made our way to pre-prom, we
were nervous and excited. It was every-
thing we had been working for. I imagine
it’s how parents feel when showing off
their newborn
baby to the
world. Interest-
ingly, the dress
is 6.4 pounds,
which is equal
to 6 pounds
and 6.4 ounces.
I was about that
weight when
I was born.
We wanted
people to be
as excited
about it as we
were.
We were
not disappointed by the reactions. In fact,
it made us feel extremely good. We were
so overwhelmed with pride when people
voluntarily took pictures of it instead of
just having our friends take pictures. We’re
both not huggers, but that was a hug-wor-
thy (and though we won’t admit it, tear-
worthy as well) moment. Even now, we’re
still kind of gushing. We’re still so prideful
of our creation and the response to it.
We worked hard and the days following
prom, we were fatigued. Unfortunately,
Annie became sick from the amount of
Krazy Glue she was exposed to and we
could not complete the matching tux.
That meant that we could not enter Duck
Brand’s “Stuck at Prom” competition. Still,
we are so, so happy that people liked the
dress.
It made for an unforgettable day and an
unforgettable experience.
So, a big thank you to everyone. Special
thanks goes to: our supervisor, Julie Reifer,
who took us on; our mentors, Nedda
Schoenfeld and Señora Spina; our friend,
Emma Boisitz, who helped extensively
when we needed it; our friend, Kady Ar-
thur, who put up with us when we needed
her to be “the tux”; our parents; our
teachers; our friends; and all those who
expressed their support!
Thank you and carpe diem (which,
they tell me, is just the fancy way to say
YOLO).
Watch the video we made! Search “Abby-
pants Wears a Dress” on YouTube or type
in the link!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PjvS-
vJw8tE
(Above) Sketches of the
dress and (to the right)
the actual duct tape prom
dress
Externship Project Takes Two Seniors to a Different World
Allie Wainer (Upper Right) and Ali Bohrer (Upper Left) completing their externship in the Lower Ninth Ward of
New Orleans.
By Allie Wainer

4. photos: Google images
Seniors 2012:
Where Are They Going?
Compiled By Dima Chaar
New York
Annie Sourbis
John Petrellese
Emily Greenwald
Emma Stein
Erica Volpe
Liam McHugh
Dima Chaar
Isabel Michaelides
Lauren Klarsfeld
Kate Monkovic
Ali Olsewski
Tatyana Roberts
Hannah Smith
Devon Badolato
Zohair Deen
Michael Syku
Brock Wilson
Hailey Wynn
Christina Scaramella
Blaine Naftelberg
Theodore Lyons
Benjamin Polsky
Vincent Reda
Aiden Dreskin
Dan Hemerlein
Emily Weiss
Anthony Kim
Micherre Matras
Jake Schiappacase
Emma Conroy
Kevin Chen
Andrew Joung
Jennifer Ognibene
Will Aaron
Kady Arthur
Patrick Greene
Evan Maniotis
Sabina Sarubbi
Michael Wank
Rebecca Fishman
Hannah Grossman
Alec Seidenberg
Whitney Smith
Katie Walsh
Charles Weinstein
SUNY
Danielle Woolis
Heather Sommer
Abby Golfo
Alexis Kassotis
Joe Potischman
Andrew Schunk
Alix Seskin
Dana Reifer
Roberto Ayala
Elias Chesy
Jacob Zive
Alanna Ginsberg
Sam Katz
Codruta Antonovici
Julie Kim
Maleeha Siddiqui
Rachel Flamm
John Monteverde
Rachel Ahn
Kimberly Goldstein
Maryland
Ali Bohrer
Adam Paul
Nicole Schoenbrun
Daniel Stein
Aimee Tandoi
Jessica Tilles
Rebecca Lehner
Michael Farrelly
Saumik Rahman
Alec Eisenberg

5. Note: This list is subject to change.
Pennsylvania
Robin Klein
Laura Blumenstock
Gavin Buckland
Justin Shapiro
Nick Hahm
Anna Peverly
Matthew Bonomo
Joseph Zacchio
Jill Castellano
Andrew Fishman
Zachary Glick
Jacob Liebersohn
Johanna Seitenbach
Adam DeAngelo
Laura Belle Oberlander
Rachel Weinstein
North Carolina
Samantha Lee
Larissa Bundziak
Ryan Rosenberg
Off the Map: Canada
Remy Stern
Forest Edwards
Alexa Ozemba
Blake Hudson
Rhode Island
Massachusetts
Madi Dinaso
Jack Hoffman
Justin Cheung
Sara Li
Oren Barkow
Lori Miller
Melanie Schneid
Sherin Thomas
Emma Boisitz
Jaron Hickman
Allie Wainer
Andrew Barbato
Allie Cammisa
Molly Gaynor
Steven Bach
Jacquelyn McKenly
Hayley Abadi
Bettina Cheung
Connecticut
Josh Berlowitz
Ariana Bulgarelli
Sebastian Cabaret-Mertel
Sarah Marshall
Emma Buegeleisen
Maxine Carrasco
Johanna Jan
Denae Kassotis
Andrea Lehner
Allie Modica
Kimberly Rivera
Emily Shapiro
Michael Wachs
Daniel Charles
Adam Gross-Leczycki
Ethan Ader
Alex Gelb
Rebecca Harris
Hannah Siegel
Simone Webb
Nicole Galletta
Lucas Cahn-Evans
Marc Getzoff
Daniel Weber
Ishita Vohra
Marc Sayegh
Josh Muhlbaum
Tyler Fodiman
Marley Deutchman
Andrew Versace

6. By Ilana Goldstein
Sophomore year is the beginning
of firsts: I started driving this year,
I took my first AP entrance ex-
ams, and I started to think about
college. We are students in transi-
tion between lower classmen and
upper classmen, leisurely hours to
hard work, honors to APs, grow-
ing up to grown up.
This was the year, we slowly
began taking control. Some of us
literally took the wheel this year
without a driving permit in our
pockets, yearning for the day that
we can ride freely without parents
and age-based rules. Even though
it feels like high school just begun,
in two years we end high school,
and in four we begin facing “the
real world”. We stood up in front
of our English class—or maybe
on the auditorium stage—and we
slammed down our thoughts and
feelings for peers to judge and vote
upon. For some, it may have been
the first time they were alone on
a stage—or even in
front of their class—
though I doubt it
will be the last. Many
of us took the PSATs
earlier this year and
got a look at what
will come next year.
This year is also
when we learn to
take responsibility.
Innocence is igno-
rance of the impact
our decisions make: a child is not
aware of the significance of his or
her life and actions. At this new
threshold, we must shed more of
our innocence and become closer
to that cryptic form of adult. The
school believes that after sopho-
more year, we will be faced with
a variety of decisions. Whether
in academics, relationships, or
decisions
regarding
our futures,
we must
learn what
decisions
will bring us
closer to the
futures that
we want. While we are not adults,
we can no longer be children.
We think, we act, we choose and
therefore, we create, who we are.
We control our decisions and we
own their implications. Thus, we
must learn, before we enter the
harsh and unforgiv-
ing climb of the real
world, how to make
decisions. That is
the challenge we
face today.
I’m looking past
the end of my
sophomore year
towards the begin-
ning of junior year.
Towards the begin-
ning of AP courses,
studying for SATs,
taking drivers’ Ed, getting into R
rated movies (legally), and start-
ing to decide what will happen
after high school. After all, even
though this year was great, next
year is a whole new beginning.
Freshman Year Reflection: The Year of “Firsts”
As I sit writing this article, I still
cannot believe it--I am writing a
reflection about my freshman year
of high school. It is slightly surreal
that we, the class of 2015, have just
finished ninth grade and summer has
arrived. It is very hard for me to put
all of my thoughts about this year into
words because of all the memories and
friendships that I have made. Yes, I
know; I sound quite cliché but I have
befriended many awesome people at
this school and have had many great
experiences with them all.
For me, this year started with
practice five days every week at the
girls’ swim team. The first practice
was quite intimidating because the
older girls are much better than me
and I only knew my friends in my
grade. Over the course of the season,
I became friendly with practically the
entire team, including many of the
upperclassmen. The team is strong in
its strokes, sportsmanship, and con-
nections among the members. Partici-
pating on the swim team allowed for
me to improve my skills, confidence,
and much more. My summer plans
include more time at a pool because
someone, no name mentioned, needs
to brush up on her skills.
Along with the swim team, my year
was also filled with non-academic
activities such as
the Concert Band,
the Criterion,
and the Panther
Voice. Concert
Band has been a
great addition to
my saxophone
career because
everything includ-
ing the sectionals,
pieces, and seating
arrangements dur-
ing class were fun
and exciting. I am a proud
member of The Criterion,
the school’s literary maga-
zine, and The Panther Voice
as I love both creative and
informational writing. In
both of these clubs, I met
new people and learned
how to write newspaper
articles (somewhat well), to
create basic types of pages
on In Design (the program
used to design The Crite-
rion), and much more. Next year, I
definitely will be a part of these great
clubs.
Academically, this year was quite the
change coming from middle school.
The work and expectations were much
higher and harder than in middle
school and the stress grew to insane
levels. I might be exaggerating a little
too much but this year was slightly
stressful. Honestly, I’ve enjoyed practi-
cally every moment of school. Yes,
that sounds extremely cliché and
dorky but it is true. All of my classes
were exciting in some shape or form
and I found the information pretty
cool and interesting. However, despite
my excitement towards the material
prior to now, finals week does not
make school or the subjects learned
more exciting.
Freshmen year is embodied within
the name: it is beginning of something
fresh, something new. In the past,
people went from high school to a job,
beginning life as independent adults.
Obviously, today this has changed-
-college has replaced what high school
once was. Regardless, high school still
retains the essence that it embodies
in the past--high school is the final
threshold into a wider pastures, a whiff
of the “real” world. We, freshmen,
just received our first whiff; some of
us recoiled from it, but I know that
I and many of my friends cannot get
enough. I cannot wait for next year.
photos: Facebook and Google images
Sophomore Year Reflection: Getting Ready for So Much More
By Nina Joung
Student

7. By Emily Shapiro
It’s June 3rd, two days before my senior
prom, and I can’t believe this year is over.
We started off still worrying about test-
ing scores and which colleges to apply
to, and are ending with thinking about
roommate selections and course selec-
tions. While it’s pretty safe to say ev-
eryone has come to a happy conclusion,
senior year was definitely one of stress
and confusion, but also one of excite-
ment and hope for the future. When we
entered high school four years ago, we all
had different goals…some of us wanted
to be the captain of the soccer team or
the president of Key Club; some wanted
to make Honor Roll every single quarter,
and some wanted to simply get into a
good college. Whatever the goal was, it
was all focused on senior year and mak-
ing a final mark on Ardsley High School.
Junior year, I think most seniors would
agree, was one of the most stressful, with
SAT/ACT scores, drivers education, and
beginning the college process. But as
we kicked this year off with the senior
chalking and barbeque, college was still
always at the back of our minds. Walk-
ing through the hallways each day I
usually saw a few seniors sitting in the
guidance office waiting to bombard
their guidance counselors with a million
different questions (I was often one of
those seniors). Some of my friends were
done with the application process by
October and were able to relax, but a lot
were still working up until the February
deadlines, and by the time the deadlines
came around, were seriously stressing
out. Once the applications were in, we
sat around twiddling our thumbs while
waiting for our results. I know I person-
ally ransacked my mail every day once
March 15th hit, waiting to see what let-
ters I would get and which colleges had
answered me.
Once we all got our first letters and
knew kind of what to expect, we began
to breathe again. Of course, we still had
to focus on our classes and our teams,
clubs, and commitments, being role
models to the younger members. We
found the time to actually enjoy our-
selves in these activities, without having
to worry about rushing home to make
sure we had actually proof read our
supplements for XYZ University. Allie
Wainer, a senior who next year will be
attending Tufts University, said, “Dur-
ing senior year I was able to ease back
on studying and enjoy myself on sports
teams, in clubs and with my friends.”
As spring break passed and we had
only a few weeks left walking through
the hallways, there was a sense of nos-
talgia among many seniors, as well as a
sense of elation. Our class had the op-
portunity to be the pilot program for the
now required senior externship, and for
the most part, people were very excited
with the opportunity to be independent
and have the chance to work in a field
they were interested in. Allie Modica
worked at Solomon Schechter with a
second grade class for her externship,
and says that it was “a great experience
because I got to interact with children
in a different way from a day camp. I
watched them learn and knowing that I
helped them to understand their work
was a great feeling.” Allie will be study-
ing Elementary Education at the Univer-
sity of Delaware next fall.
There were moments during this year
when I would pause during a cheerlead-
ing practice or put down my pencil while
taking notes and just think about what
I was doing…why was mastering a par-
ticular cheerleading stunt or making sure
that I had copied down exactly what Ms.
Nunes wrote on the board important?
And then I would realize that it wasn’t
about the actual notes or the routine, but
about what I was learning – how to be
organized, how to engage my thinking,
how to be a role model, and most impor-
tantly, how to achieve my goals.
As I said earlier, there are only two
days left until our Senior Prom, and as
I’m writing this, I’m also simultaneously
planning exactly how I’m going to style
my hair and do my make-up (as I’m sure
many other girls are also doing right at
this moment). But it’s also just hitting
me now that this is it. This is the final
stretch of senior year, beginning with
prom, followed by senior awards and the
varsity dinner, and ending with gradua-
tion, and the next few weeks will simply
be a whirlwind of emotion. But I think
that Ardsley has more than enough
prepared us for what comes next. Alix
Seskin, a senior who will be attend-
ing SUNY Geneseo, put it simply: “We
had to go through high school making
mistakes and learning along the way in
order to get to the next step in life.”
Photo: Google and Facebook
Senior Year Reflection: This is it!
I remember during the first week
of junior year thinking, oh this
isn’t that bad, I can totally handle
this. Just a few days later, I dis-
covered that I was wrong—I was
really, really wrong. Or rather
partially wrong, after all some-
how I survived junior year and 9
months later, I am still breathing.
A big accomplishment since there
were a few points during the year
when I honestly thought summer
would never come and I would
die, drowning in a pool of stress.
So, I would like to congratulate my
classmates for surviving too.
Sophomores—this is my advice
for next year—drink a lot of caf-
feine or develop super human
strength to stay awake, but please
go to sleep if you find yourself forc-
ing your eyes open multiple times.
Use time as efficiently as possible
or just invent a time machine;
considering that this will not only
allow for more efficient time us-
age, but also add another line to
your Common Apps—a double
whammy. Find music that will keep
you going. Give up regularly watch-
ing your TV shows, and instead
watch them online or DVR when
you actually have the time. Force
yourself to find the time to just
relax and hang out with friends.
Treasure vacations and weekends
but beware of Sunday nights. You
may feel pressured to figure out
your future now but don’t worry,
just explore your interests now. Be
afraid, be very afraid but not too
afraid because you will survive.
The combination of school,
homework, SATs, ACTS, college
searching, driver’s ed. and extracur-
ricular activities coalesce together
into 100 foot-tall water wall of
headaches, a tsunami of stress.
Despite my harsh rant, being
an upperclassman actually has
benefits such as leading clubs
and sports teams. I would get
more involved in school clubs
or outside activities because
they give you a chance to
explore new hobbies, interests
and perhaps future passions.
Even though the college process is
tedious, overwhelming and once
again stressful, I liked visiting
colleges in new places that I have
never been to before. Additionally,
during 11th grade you have the op-
portunity to take electives, classes
that interest you, AP classes or just
have free periods (which I success-
fully utilized to do more homework
and studying). For me, taking
AP classes allowed me to explore
subject areas that I am interested in
and enjoy. The ultimate highlight
of junior year for many is learning
how to drive and getting a license
although driver’s ed is probably the
most boring part.
Junior year was a journey, with
highs and lows. This year was only
a precursor to what is to come and
valuable lessons were learned. As
I finished the last two weeks in
May, before my AP exams, I nearly
didn’t make it. Yet, I did. I sprinted
toward the finish line and even
though I still have lots of work and
finals, I know that the end is almost
here. I’m looking forward to next
year and senior year traditions.
Though it is a relief to be inches
away from the finish line, it is also
bittersweet, soon our class will part
ways and the our once so distant
futures will begin.
Junior Year Reflection: AYear Like No Other
By Felice Segall
Reflections
Senior Class of 2012 at the traditional “Senior Chalking” event in September

8. Photo: Google and Facebook
(Top Left) Seniors and their dates smile pose for pre-prom pictures; (Top Right) Senior boys smile for the camera; (Bottom) Girls line up for a special pre-prom photo.
Congratulations
Class of 2012!