TWO PEAS IN A PODCAST
TRANSCRIPT
Olivia: Olivia Layton, 12 grade.
Reagan: Senior Olivia Layton transferred to Sion this year. The transfer offered new experiences for her in her pursuit of learning. In her move to Sion, this self proclaimed polyglotte (one who is able to speak several languages) was able to better explore her love of languages and culture.
O: So I decided, actually, sophomore year that I was interested in transferring from my school, which was Barstow. I didn't feel that the environment was good for me. There was a lot of pressure, especially for college. And I didn’t think that was necessary and the weren’t really letting me pursue the things that are most interesting to me, which include language and cultural studies. There weren't as many opportunities to take classes in those subjects, so I was just looking for something like that.
R: Layton started her study in languages with Spanish but has since started studying five languages in all.
O: I first started taking Spanish when I was in elementary school. I started taking French in high school, sophomore year actually. And I’ve also studied Italian and Russian and just a little tiny bit of Japanese.
R: As for her favorite language of study, Spanish and French are almost tied.
O: Well, Spanish was my first love and it’s the one I know the most about culturally and historically however I would say that french is becoming a very close second favorite.
R: The summer before coming to Sion, Layton traveled to Spain as a way to fully immerse herself in the culture and language.
O: Yes, okay, so that was last summer and I guess it was just because, alright. At Barstow there was this Amigos Program. So you can go and it’s kind of like a mission trip in different countries in Latin America. I talked to my mom and it’s about a month long, some are six weeks, some are eight weeks, and she said no, because it was really expensive. It was like $6,000, and you have to do things throughout the year to prepare for it. So, I wanted something else and I have a contact in Madrid, actually I have two. My Godmother, she’s not related to me but she’s a close friend of mom, and I did an exchange a couple years ago with a student. So, we were more comfortable with that and I just found this program online with this university, and I spent four weeks studying. I had to do a placement test when I got in, and I got to C1. So, that was fun, and it meant I was surrounded by passionate learners from all over the world. There was a diplomat from Australia ter was an american student who’s at Princeton now and a guy from China who I’m still talking to, we’re good friends. And it was just an incredible experience, because it’s one thing to do an exchange with your school or go on vacation and to see, kind of, this superficial touristic view of the country and another to live there and have to speak the language and go through problems. For instance, when I first arrived, I went to the wrong apartment and got locked in to the little entrance area. It was a sunday morning so everyone was at church, I think it was 9:30 a.m., there was no one around and so I had to call the police. I was in panic mode and it really tested my Spanish skills and showed me that I may have to focus on more practical phrases instead of more formal things that we learn in class. After this experience I feel very comfortable.
R: For those who are interested in learning languages that aren’t based on the Roman alphabet, what is used in the romantic languages of French, German, Spanish, Italian and English, Layton has recommendations on how best to study.
O: Well the nice thing about the Cyrillic alphabet is there are still some letters that are similar, like “m” is the same. But it took a while, I would just say, when you have with the Cyrillic alphabet in particular there aren’t many letters, it’s still an alphabet system. You can make flashcards and just practicing a lot of phrases. There are plenty of websites out there where you can hear the pronunciation and read it over and over again. Videos, even just children’s videos are very helpful. With Japanese I know that there’s a lot of writing that can help an you can print off worksheets. Actually my brother’s learning it right now so I’ve been watching him go through that.
R: Layton sees herself as a polyglotte, someone who is able to speak and understand several languages.
O: Right now, I mean, I think so, just because. I think there’s a strict definition of that but in the sense of multiple languages yes. I mean I can definitely understand those four languages pretty well and I can read them pretty well and I’m able to speak decently and yeah.
R: Through studying languages, Layton has found a way to further explore her love of culture as well.
O: With my study in languages has come this interest and, honestly, a passion for cultural studies and the thing that I find the most interesting because of things like grammar structures, you know when you hear someone speaking English and you can tell they are not a native speaker, it helps, if you know that language, why they make those mistakes. It makes you more patient and also understanding with that person. But also why people might behave a certain way. Their culture, for instance, with Spanish it can be very poetic and very romantic sometimes. And so I think that that goes with the behavior of the people.
TRANSCRIPT
A: Hi, I’m Avery Kuhls and I’m a sophomore
R: As only a sophomore, Avery Kuhls managed to become the lead in this year’s musical, Cinderella. After being a nun in last years production of Sister Act, Kuhls comments on the surprise of scoring a lead role, rather than a chorus member.
A: I was really surprised when I found out and it’s been really fun. And it’s really different from being a small part last year to being big part this year. Because you have to pay attention a lot more and you’re on stage and memorize a lot more.
R: For Kuhls, this production is a magical one. Not only is she excited about being the lead, but also about just being on the stage and seeing everything come together.
A: I’m mostly excited to be on the stage and see everything because this musical has a lot of magic and I want to see it come to life on the stage. I’m just excited to see it all come together. But I’m pretty nervous.
R: Despite this being her first lead in a Sion production, Kuhls has had experience with being a main character in the past. She got her start in musical theatre while doing an eighth grade performance of Shrek, where she played Fiona. That performance along with a family appreciation for theatre led Kuhls to explore acting more seriously in high school.
A: My first musical was in eighth grade and it was shrek. I played Fiona. And all of the eighth grade was required to do it so that kind of got me into it. And my cousins are really into it so I’ve been going to their shows for the longest time and always wanted to be a part of one. So going to sion gave me that opportunity.
R: When comparing the two performances, Kuhls can notice an evolution of her theatre career.
A: Well this is a lot more serious than shrek. I didn’t really have a lot of people helping me. I kind of had to do a lot of Iona on my own. Like with the songs, I didn’t have someone helping with music and I had to learn all of it myself. So this is a lot more organised and I guess taken more seriously.
R: This week is tech week, an experience that many outside of the theatre world may not have heard of before. Kuhls reflects on how tech week has been going so far.
Tech week is monday through thursday and right after school we go to the stage and we do run throughs and fix things until they’re perfect. We stay at the stage until like 11 and it’s a lot for all of us to do.
R: Her favorite song to sing in this show is Impossible, a duet between her character and the Fairy Godmother. The song is a message about not relying on magic to wish your problems away.
A: I like Impossible a lot. It’s probably my favorite one to sing. It’s when the Fairy Godmother comes to cinderella and talks about if she wants things to happen for herself she can't rely on magic. She has to believe in herself if she wants things to happen she needs to make them happen. It’s her and the Fairy Godmother coming together.
R: This year the musical is being performed at Rockhurst’s Rose Theatre, in the past it has been held at Avila’s theatre. Kuhls reflects on how this change affects her performance.
A: Well I guess I’m more comfortable with Avila, and this is a brand new stage. And it’s bigger, I think and there’s more seats definitely and we’ll just see how it goes.
R: Despite being in a new environment, Kuhls’ biggest stressor is the possibility she could lose her voice. She has been sick for the past few months and is trying to get healthy before showtime.
A: My biggest stressor is definitely losing my voice. I need to make sure that I’m, whats thats word, just because I’ve been sick for months. Making sure that I pace myself. You know what I mean, with my voice and just making sure that it stays there. It’s just like a bump in the road that I need to get over. I just need to get over this. It makes me lose my voice much easier. It’s just annoying. I’ve been on my second round of antibiotics and I;ve done everything to make it go away and it just isn’t. It’s just another thing that I have to deal with. BUt I think I’m getting better.
R: The childhood story of Cinderella is one that Kuhls hopes everyone can relate to. This weekend, she hopes you all will come and see her performance along with other Sion girls.
A: I just feel like everyone's grown up watching cinderella and seeing it on screen and now they get to see it happen in real life. I hope you enjoy we’ve all been working really hard on it the crew tech and I really hope you enjoy it. Friday at 8 Saturday at 8 and Sunday at 2.
TRANSCRIPT
Molly: I’m Molly Hudak and I’m a junior
Reagan: Molly Hudak has been rock climbing for fun since she was a child, a skill encouraged by her father, who has a history of rock climbing, and climbing as a family. This encouragement has led to Hudak becoming even more involved in climbing in the past year. Since last year, Hudak has been competing competitively in the rock climbing circuit, even qualifying for Nationals. This success can be traced back to her family experiences with rock climbing as a young child.
M: I’ve been rock climbing competitively for the past year, I started last August. I mean, I never really, like, I’ve done it throughout my childhood and I’ve never really gone consistently though. So I would say the first time I ever did rock climb I was probably five years old. We were in Colorado, just in an outdoor amusement park thing.
R: Because of her experiences as a child learning to rock climb, Hudak went on to train to competitively rock climb. Her gym focuses on indoor coursework and uses different equipment, such as a set up of American Ninja Warrior race obstacles, to train.
M: I climb indoors mainly, it’s like bouldering though. So, you don’t wear a harness and it’s 20 feet, that’s usually the max height. Bouldering is climbing that usually doesn’t exceed 20, 25 feet and you do not have a harness. It’s more powerful and less endurancy. It’s usually more powerful and less endurancy because when you have the harness the walls are 50 to 100 feet high. So it’s a lot more endurance. So my gym, since it’s just bouldering, so like, the first, the main part, is just walls. But if you go further back they actually have an American Ninja Warrior training room which is pretty cool because most gyms just have the normal training stuff but we have the warped wall and the flying bars and the thing, the spider jump, which yeah, you probably, it’s hard to understand but it’s cool when you see it. It makes training a lot more fun I think because you can do it on obstacles you wouldn’t get to normally.
R: Hudak’s training is every day after school for three hours, consisting of warm ups, projects and a work out.
M: I try to [practice every night] I mean, balancing homework, rock climbing and everything, but usually my practices are three hours every night. So you go there and warm up for probably the first thirty minutes because otherwise you’re gonna just injure yourself, yeah, and then you do warm up and then usually you have this thing called a project, which is the route you’re working on at that time. So you do that for, I usually work on my project for an hour to a half to two hours. And then usually the last hour is working out, so you do strength training, endurance training, fingerboards, stuff like that. So, on my team I’m one of the older people. There’s another boy who’s a senior in highschool but we’re obviously, our bodies are able to do more than the little kids who aren’t supposed to stress their tendons yet so we do weighted workouts, I guess. Usually either us two will do it together or I’ll do it on my own. Kind of just taught by my coach who is also the coach of the entire team.
R: When it comes to competition, Hudak participates in both seasons of climbing, bouldering and Sporting. Both seasons have two local competitions as well as regionals, which qualifies you for divisionals which, in turn, qualifies you for nationals.
M: So, there’s two seasons, sport, rope season, is you are tied into a rope and usually you’ll lead climb it, which means you’re leading the ropes up, and as you pass clips you have to clip the rope in. So when you fall you don’t just fall. So right now we’re doing bouldering, what I talked about earlier. Usually for each season you have to do two local competitions, so that means like any close, nearby ones. So I did one in Kansas City and one in St. Louis. And then after your two locals you go to regionals and if you qualify at regionals you move on to divisionals and then after divisionals is nationals. And then nationals, after nationals, hypothetically, you could go to worlds which is the biggest competition of all of them. Since I just started a year ago worlds hasn’t exactly happened yet, but I have regionals this Saturday, yes, I am pretty excited. I don’t know, I have been training a lot the past few weeks so, hoping it pays off.
R: Each bouldering competition consists of six projects of increasing difficulty with three minutes to climb each one. The climbers that get the farthest on each climb are the highest scorers and are the ones who get to continue on through divisionals or nationals. Hudak herself qualified for nationals last year, despite being unable to go, she has committed to going as far as possible this season.
M: So bouldering is 1 through 6 and then with sports, since it’s a lot longer rounds you only have to do 3 usually so you’d only do three routes there. Regionals is a one day competition but divisionals, that’s what comes after regionals, it’s two days and you would do twelve routes at divisionals because the first day is a qualifier. So basically the top ten on the first day at divisionals and the second day is top six and then the top six go to nationals from there. So last year my first divisionals I got to divisionals and then I got, well, I did qualify for nationals but I could not go. Technically I could have gone to nationals but I just didn’t, so. They’re in Salt Lake City, so. We decided, yeah, this year [I’m going to nationals]. ‘Cause I think it’s my last year competing in youth, or I have next year, but it’ll be harder, I’m gonna be doing other stuff, so yeah. This is kind of the year, I guess, but.
R: On top of climbing outside of school, Hudak decided to bring her passion to Sion. This year she started Sion’s Rock Climbing Club. The club members discuss rock climbing procedure and other climbing related topics during school meetings and then meet outside of school as well to develop their rock climbing skills.
M: It is going well. We had an outing to our gym, the local gym where I climb, which was a lot of fun and it was fun to see all the girls trying it out and like, I don’t know. One of my friends, Savanna Mayer, she is in the club too and she got kind of hooked on it I guess. She has her own shoes now with shock-back and she comes and climbs occasionally so that was fun to watch, but yeah. I think we have 11, but it’s growing. We’ve gotten two new people in the past two months, so.Usually during club meetings we’ll discuss things related to rock climbing, like we had a nutrition thing we did, athlete nutrition, and then the week before that we talked about strength training exercises and so we showed them how to do pull ups properly and stuff like that.
TRANSCRIPT
M: My name is Moriana Jaco and I’m a senior
R: Moriana Jaco seems to have the rest of her life planned out. Finding and nurturing her passion for broadcast media Jaco was led to finding what she hopes to be her future career. Thanks to involvement in a radio show called Generation Rap or “G-Rap,” she was able to interview at Strange music and learn about music management, her field of interest.
M: Generation Rap has been around for thirty years and it’s a teen talk show where local Kansas City students have the opportunity to express their views and opinions on national topics local topics, basically anything we want to talk about. The students mostly come up with the topics, we just talk about stuff we’re interested in and if we’re able to put it in show format we just go with it. Well, since I was young I’ve always loved the music industry and just music in general, it just really makes people feel. I didn’t want to have a typical job where i was sitting at my desk all day and I was like “what can I do with music that will also help me financially support myself,” you know what I’m saying? I was like hey, “the music industry” and I don’t want to be famous, that’s not why I’m pursuing this but I really like behind the scenes jobs where you are responsible for helping someone but you’re not the front face. I thought this was the perfect career for me.
R: Through G-r\Rap and exposure to broadcast media, Jaco found an appreciation for the broadcast industry as a hole. Paired with her love of music from an early age, Jaco knew that music management was the right career for her.
M: I want to be an artist manager. Generation Rap has mostly helped me with public speaking and that type of thing, but being exposed to broadcast journalism and everything that comes with that has made me more focused on the music industry as a whole and just being able to go into that kind of facet of career.
R: Thanks to her mentors at g-rap, Jaco was able to secure a meeting at strange records, a meeting that further cemented her decision to go into the music industry.
M: So earlier this school year I went to strange music label which is up here in Lee’s Summit, and it’s technically the largest independent label in the world. It’s the label that hosts Tech9 which is the biggest Kansas City star out right now. I went there and I had an interview with the head leader of their media department and I also met with Tech9’s manager himself. It was pretty interesting. It was so cool, I just learned a lot about the industry and internships and what it’s really like to be in that career field. My mentor was able to link up with a person who worked there. So basically, it wasn’t really related to generation rap, it was something that I wanted to do personally to get more experience and knowledge to make sure I really wanted to go into that field. His name was Victor Sandoval and he was a digital media coordinator and he basically told me about, it was a lot of information he gave me, but he was telling me about algorithms and things they have to do for artists social media pages and getting likes and content out there. We talked a lot about the social media aspect of the music industry and making sure you’re able to brand yourself. Making sure you’re able to advertise in the way you want to advertise and also making sure there’s a good balance between what the artist wants and what the label wants.
R: As far as “making it” in the industry Jaco has a plan laid out to hopefully ensure she can work her way into her field of choice.
M: The first step is applying to USC, hopefully getting in there, and I want to be a part of their music management, they have a degree program there. You do internships and other things. It’s like one of the best in the country. That’s where I really want to go. But, if I can’t go there then I’ll probably do a different route and just do internships and stuff like that. He was telling me that he did an internship at strange music and they kind of taught him the ropes but also allowed him to just go out there and just see what he could do. But really it’s just stuff you a mostly learn in college. It’s a lot of statistics and marketing and advertising and that type of thing, that’s also why I want to go into public relations too. It is difficult, it’s not a normal career where you’re just at your desk doing this all day but I think it’ll be pretty cool, a little challenging probably.
R: As for what she wants to get out of her career, Jaco is content with being able to help someone achieve their dreams.
M: Honestly, I’m not saying I need to find the next Beyonce of something and have a pop star but just, I really want to help somebody start off their career and help them find the level of success they want to get. That’s personally what I want to do, so.
TRANSCRIPT
E: I’m Emilie Connors and I’m a senior
M: I’m Morgan Hickman and I’m a senior
R: Morgan Hickman and Emilie Connors both walked in this season’s Kansas City Fashion Week at Union Station. The event acted as both a new experience and a return experience for the two girls.
E: I’ve done three seasons, so, like a year and a half.
M: And this was my first season ever. I was a little nervous about it, but it was like a really nice transition. Like, they kind of help you out, the people who were experienced. I don’t know,it was really fun, I liked it.
E: Yeah, it’s always like different, each time, so it’s always interesting to come back and see what’s changed or see who the designers are or what their collections look like.
R: Despite being new to runway, Hickman has done photoshoots in the past. Both Connors and Hickman reflect on the differences and difficulties between walking and posing for the camera.
M: It’s a lot different. I’ve only done like one or two photoshoots but it’s completely different. I know that everyone is involved in KC fashion week in some way, so like, on my photoshoot my makeup artist did KC fashion week last year, so I asked her about it and everything. So, but it’s a lot different, I don’t know, I wasn’t really prepared for it, but.
E: Yeah.
M: I think I did pretty good.
E: It is a lot different because it’s like, when you do a photoshoot it’s like still pictures but when you’re doing runway, it’s movement. So, like everything, you have to be like “in character” the whole time. But with a photoshoot it’s just one little snap.
M:And no one’s there.
E: Right, just like a photographer.
M: But there are hundreds of people around when you’re walking. It’s just really hard not to look at everyone. You just have to do, I don’t know, it’s a different kind of focus I guess.
E: Yeah.
R: Figuring out who you’re going to work with is also a stressful part of the walking process. After auditions there is the process of designers figuring out who the want to work with and models determining who they want to walk for.
M: It’s like an audition thing. So there was an audition space at Oak Park Mall and you go there and they just have you walk, just a little bit, and they take your picture and they get your measurements and everything. And then, I think they send your pictures to the designers?
E: Yeah. So, you’re put onto a big roster and then they’ll, every designer, looks at your picture and watches your video and look at your measurements and then from the big roster out of everybody that auditioned they narrow it down to only a couple hundred models and then from that list designers will pick you individually to walk for them. You can only walk for one designer a night so there’s usually four nights, wednesday to saturday.
M: So, I did three nights and that was, not unheard of, but I can understand why people don’t walk that much. It was a lot of work.
E: It is, yeah, and it takes a lot of your time. It’s long days, you’re there for like
M: Eight hours
E: Eight hours, and seven of those hours is just waiting.
M: Yeah
E: For your two minutes of fame. It’s not, it’s not that easy, people think that it’s easy, it’s not that easy.
M: Yeah, and it’s really tiring. That sounds stupid, but it’s really tiring too
E: It is
M: Like I had to leave early from school because I did thursday and friday.
E: Yeah, sometimes, mine were on weekends because my designer knew we were in school, and some of us are older and out of school but we still have jobs or whatever. So, they have one big rehearsal where everybody comes together and you try on your outfits and you go through your walk and everything. Ours were at Oak Park mall this year but they’ve been at other places , downtown before too.
M: Yeah, my fitting, that was just to get my fitting done and to see the cohesiveness of the collection and everything and those were on the weekend too. But, before the show there is seven to eight hours of hair and makeup and just waiting around and then then there’s, on top of that, a two hour show that we’re waiting for our turn and can leave after that.
E: Yeah, right. Like morgan said, she walked three nights her first time, and so did I, but last season I only walked one night and then this season two, so
M: You never know
E: It’s really freaky honestly because you’re hoping and then you don’t hear from them for, like, months.
M: Oh my gosh, I remember talking to Emile and saying “so have you heard from anyone yet?” like, what’s going on. And then all these designers started texting me and I had to choose which designers I wanted to walk for. Five designers contacted me but you can only walk for one a night so I had to choose.
E: It’s hard
M: It’s hard
E: Having the model life
M: Oh yeah, it’s so difficult. But sometimes they’ll email you their collection too, because they want you to walk for them.
E: My favorite so far is probably Jessie Newton, I walked for him my first season and his clothes were just really unique and I thought that you could also wear them out in public. Because sometimes you’ll see designers and their stuff is unrealistic to wear but his wre pretty cool and I could see myself wearing that.
M: My favorite designer this season was the one I walked for the last day, her name is Samira and her brand is called Messisa and I don’t know I just really like, related to the clothes and she was really into the process, like hair and makeup and everything. She was just super sweet.
R: Despite mostly enjoying their experiences with designers, Hickman and Connors have experienced stress related to whether the collection will be ready in time to walk.
E: There’s a lot of time to prepare for fashion week so, the designers, usually in the best case scenerio, the designer already has the collection done or an idea for the collection. They spend months working on it. But, this season, one of my designers, she was not prepared. She was backstage from twelve to six, and the show usually starts at seven, seven thirty, she was finishing her clothes up until then. It’s definitely stressful for her, but for us standing around watching her wondering if our clothes were gonna be done or not it’s kind of like really stressful. That was probably the first time I ever had that happen to me. In the past I’ve had designers fix things Like one year my body soot tore on the side and we had to fix it really fast before we went one, but that was just one little thing. But having like, her having to work on ten different outfits before the show starts. Everyone was panicking. But it was fine I guess.
M: Yeah, it turned out
E: Everything turned out okay.
M: Yeah, I was surprised at the result. There was a lot of like, my designers were pretty rushed too. I didn’t know what what I was wearing for the first night until twenty minutes before the show. And I was like “this could go bad” but it turned out great. But, it was definitely like, there was some anxiety during the day.
E: Right, right, definitely.
R: As far as modeling in the future, both girls consider it to be more of a hobby. However, both plan to continue walking in following seasons.
M: I just want to get in the fashion industry so I basically did it to get some experience from all sides, if that makes sense? And, I don’t know, I could, I kind of want to do modeling more as a hobby than a career because I have a lot of different interests so.
E: I always say it’s more for fun as well. If something were to come out of it why not? Because that’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to make it big in that but if that doesn’t happen I’m not gonna be upset about it because I have other goals. I’ve been doing it for a long time, like with an agent and everything, for as long as I can remember so it’s just kind of like what morgan said, like a hobby.
M: I really enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun.
ALL PHOTOS SUBMITTED BY DEBBIE JACKSON
TRANSCRIPT
Nicole: I am Nicole Jackson
Reagan: Nicole Jackson has been riding horses since she was in kindergarten. With encouragement from her family and training, she has managed to become a decorated horse rider, competing in National and World competitions and even bringing home titles.
N: This year we went to worlds and, I mean, I’ve been going to Nationals for a few years. It’s kind of overwhelming. I got in there and my pony took off with me because I was not put together. Well, the second year I went with my horse and we won so it got better. We made it out of the ring together.
R: Jackson grew up in a house of practiced riders. Her father rode and her grandmother even won the worlds competition Jackson rides in today.
N: Well, my grandma just kind of decided “hey, well, you’re doing pretty good so why not go” she kind of like helps me along the way and she’s won a few times at worlds too. My dad rode some, but not as competitively.
R: Jackson’s first time at worlds was this year. The ring was huge and there were crowds of people there to watch. For jackson there wasn’t much difference between this competition and the national competition she had gone to in years prior.
N: It was really big and kind of like “woah, okay, this is really happening.” Well, you walk in and there’s this really big ring, it’s got big shavings. It’s like a big, kind of like a football stadium but instead of there being like a football field there's a big open kind of ring. I mean, I think they’re about maybe, I mean worlds is maybe a little bit bigger. But I think they’re kind of like the same, because a lot of people who go to worlds go to nationals. They require you to qualify so you have to go to like three shows just to basically show that you’re ready to do that. Nationals I think you only have to go to like one show.
R: Riders like Jackson need to follow specific dress requirements while riding. They need to have certain clothes on and keep their hair pulled back.
N: We usually wear silks, like, have you ever seen the thoroughbred racers? How they have these really colorful silks and we wear those. Mine are blue with a white stripe. They’re like, kind of like a jacket that’s shiny and silky I guess. And we put in a bun. It’s kind of a low bun.
R: Jackson spends a lot of practice time in Kentucky. Over the summer and over long breaks, Jackson heads out of the state to make the most of her practice time.
N: well we do a lot in Kentucky because that’s where the horses live, so we do a lot of traveling down to Kentucky. In the summer we head down there. We don’t really do much in Kansas City, just because it’s a long haul here. Well summer’s our big practice season, just because I can be there pretty much every single day, but whenever it’s wintertime we don’t do as much because there aren’t shows really in the wintertime. I usually go, we have a barn at home, so I usually just go and hop on one of the lesson horses and just ride. If we have a long break, we go down to Kentucky but during the week we go to the barn here and just ride.
R: Recently, Jackson broke her collarbone. Due to this injury she has been unable to practice or ride at all.
N: Well, I was practicing like four times a week but now that I broke my collarbone none because I’m not allowed to apparently. So I was at a local horse show, I was just helping out. They have academy which is like, people who don’t have their own horse but they still ride. So I was helping out there, and this one girl asked if I wanted to help wash her horse. And I was like “sure.” So, I go over and I hold the horse and she gets the hose out and the horse spooks and he rears up and he kicks me in the shoulder. and thence got loose, so everyone’s, like, trying to run around, finding the horse, while I guess seeing if I’m okay. I was cleared to drive today, so I can go drive the horse, if that makes sense. So I can get in the cart and drive and then I can technically kind of, she said I could walk. So I can like, I guess walk. I don’t think she has a problem with me riding it’s just if I fall off then we’re gonna have a major problem.
R: Judging for riding is based a lot on appearance. Jackson described how both the rider and the horse need to look professional.
N: There’s three judges, they’re usually horse trainers so they know what they’re doing, and they have judging card. And, they mostly judge on a. if you’re doing it right. Like, obviously if they ask you to walk and you just continue trotting,that’s gonna get points counted off. But, if your horse looks good, so you have to have their head in a certain place and they have to physically look good. It’s like a beauty show for horses. I just do walk trot and canter. For driving we don’t walk, we just go as fast as we can, it’s kind of like a fancy race but we don’t actually line up and go. But you can tell who’s going fast and who’s not. We have a trot and we have a jog, we call it a jog because it’s a nice going around. Then we have a road gate where we just go as fast as we can without, obviously, breaking, that’s not good.
R: Chris, one of Jackson’s newest ponies, is the one that won world’s with her.
N: He has won worlds, I know, at least one other time with someone else. I just got him, like, thirty days before worlds.
R: Along with Chris, Jackson has one other pony and two other horses.
N: We have to horses and two ponies. The two horses are George and Luna and then the ponies are Mise and Chris. Mise and George have won nationals. I’ve had Mise for four years, it will be five in I don’t know, but soon. And George I’ve only had for two years, and Chris is obviously like, yeah, and then Luna we got over the summer. She’s just kind of like a little practice pony. She’s just, I don’t know, she’s kind of overweight at the moment, so.
R: Jackson meets the age requirement for certain qualifiers, this allows her to compete in specific classes.
N: 13 and under and 14 to 17, and it’s whatever you are on Jan. 1. So, like, I have a Jan. 15 birthday, so technically, right now, I show as a 13 year old even though I’m 14, because I was 13 on January 1. We have different classes because, like, for worlds I won two classes.
R: At worlds, Jackson’s performance at the junior exhibitor roadster pony qualifier is what allowed her to move on to win the competition.
N: Well, we had like, a qualifier for the junior exhibitor roadster pony and then we had a championship for that too. Yeah, it basically just means kids driving fast ponies.
R: Jackson missed the first week of school for the world's competition and is looking towards November for the next national competition.
N: It was Aug. 20 something-ish. It was the week school was fully, like the first full week of school. Nationals is like the first of nov.
R: Jackson has a lot of experience going up and getting her awards. At her first worlds jackson went up to accept her awards for both qualifier and the actual championship.
N: I feel like, I don’t know, people holding the trophies and stuff and you just go up and get a little picture taken and the you go on your little victory lap. At worlds you get a blue ribbon and if you win the championship you get a blanket of roses that they put on your horse so, it’s kind of like the thoroughbreds, like if you win the Kentucky Derby they give you this blanket of roses, it’s like that. You have to be in the qualifier to get in the championship. It’s just whatever, age limit the qualifier was, 13 ad under. We won the qualifier and the championship
TRANSCRIPT
Kennedy: I’m Kennedy Ruark and I’m a freshman.
Reagan: For most of her life, Kennedy Ruark has been a soccer player. She plays for Rush, a competitive team with members all of the country. Through this team and her talent, Ruark earned the opportunity to play soccer all over the world.
Kennedy: My club has, like, a national team so they pick, like, the top 300 kids in your age group, and you go and try out and then they choose the top 16, and it’s called Rush Select, and the top 16 get to go to Europe every year. I’ve gone twice. I’ve been to Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
Reagan: Ruark draws much of her ambition from growing up alongside her brother, another soccer player. She started competing because of her brother and plans on continuing competition through college because of him as well.
Kennedy: I’ve been playing since, like, preschool, so, since I was, like, five. Seeing my brother play it. He’s playing at University of Chicago, my best friend. I plan on playing in college, so, I’m trying to go somewhere up in Chicago so I can be by him.
Reagan: Rush, her competitive team, recognizes Ruark’s talent. Out of the hundreds of members on all of Rush’s national teams, Ruark is recognized as one of the top 16. The 16 girls were asked to compete against european soccer leagues overseas.
Kennedy: Okay, so there’s Rush all over the United States, and then they pick the top players from each state, and then you go and try out and then they pick people. We played FC Bayern Munich, and AC Milan and… what’s the other one? Oh, Inter Milan too. In 2016 I went to Germany, Italy and Switzerland, and then in 2017 I went to Germany.
Reagan: Ruark took full advantage of her opportunity to play overseas. She commented especially on how seriously they take soccer overseas, contrasting her own personal practice schedule.
Kennedy: It was probably about the same but I feel like they take more care of like, ‘cause over there. Soccer is more like their life. So, like, they had, we played this team, and that school was, like, specifically for soccer. So, they have schools dedicated to soccer there, so, I don’t know. They just have nicer stadiums and stuff like that. It was kind of intimidating, like, ‘cause, they eat, sleep and breathe soccer, and I’m over here, just like : “I go to practice three days a week after school and they go to school for that.” So, I mean, that was intimidating, but I knew I’d be fine if I just went and played like I played.
Reagan: Despite the apparent differences in time commitment, Rush Select showed their skills during their games, coming home undefeated.
Kennedy: This year we actually won every game. We played the u-17 Bayern Munich National Team, and they actually won the European league for their age group this year, so that was a huge deal for us, to beat them 1-0. But, it was probably the hardest game of my life, so. We played about 7 games and we were there for 10 days, I think. It was the Bayern Munich, but it was the girls our age, so it wasn’t the u-17, we played the u-15 Bayern Munich girls. We beat the 11-0. It was ridiculous. I was surprised, I was, I don’t know, we had one of those days where everyone was just so ready to go play, and I think the atmosphere got everyone super hyped, and we just kind of went off. Just started scoring let and right.
Reagan: Coming home presented an interesting comparison for Ruark. She is happy to live in Kansas City, but misses the escape from normalcy Rush Select provided. Living in Kansas City gives her the option to play up in her ager group and compete against strong teams.
Kennedy: It’s, kind of underwhelming in a way. Just the fields and stuff, you come back and everything’s just so normal again. But the competition is still really good, especially where we live. ‘Cause I know, in a lot of states, it’s not as good. I mean here it’s still definitely a challenge. Sporting, what is it, Showcase, I think. That’s what they’re called. Yeah. Yeah, we are playing u-17 this year.
Reagan: Being able to participate in European leagues was exciting for Ruark. Her experience was highlighted by her memory of stepping onto one of Germany’s stadium fields.
Kennedy: Yeah, we were at the bayern munich stadium, and they started playing the song they walk out to as we were walking out to the field, and it just hit me. I was just like “oh my gosh, this is happening.” And I felt super cool, so.