david sopoci's senior valedictory

Dear Eighth-Grade David,

First off, simmer yourself down and let the future come to you. As I am only

two weeks from my high school graduation I am sure you are on a great

track right now. Continue to work hard on your grades and focus on who

you are. Do not be a sucker. You do not have to work to satisfy people who

you do not love.

You are one emotional child. Don‟t let that con-

tinue to define you and learn the difference be-

tween being emotional and passionate. Your po-

tential goes far beyond what you see yourself to

be.

David, I know you love to make others happy but

please watch out for number one! The amount of

smiles you can put on faces by being yourself

greatly exceeds those that are forced. In turn, fall

into yourself. Use several different avenues to cre-

ate a personality that is entirely you and you will

find that your own happiness is the most conta-

gious. Don‟t let everybody else‟s opinions become

yours.

Thank you for reading this letter to me. You are

spectacular. Don‟t ever forget it.

Sincerely,

Senior David

L e t t e r t o M e

F I N D Y O U R S E L F

David Sopoci

Newsletter Date Volume 1, Issue 1

One wonderful Christmas, I

woke up and ran to my broth-

ers‟ rooms to wake them up.

We all sat in Kevin‟s room wait-

ing for my parents to wake up.

We sat talking about how ex-

cited we were to go downstairs

and see what we were going to

receive that year. Finally, my

father burst through the doors

of my brother‟s room, and ex-

claimed, “TIME FOR PRE-

SENTS!!!” We all gathered our

footing and ran quickly down

the carpeted stairs, turning

quickly when hitting the bot-

tom. To our surprise, stacks of

presents laid under the tree,

and we were dying to unwrap

them. Quickly, we distributed

the wrapped gifts, and orderly

began to unwrap them one by

one. After I had finished, I had

a new Guitar Hero, a new

hockey stick, and plenty of

other treasures. My dad walked

out with one more gift for all

three of us. He brought us a

card with a message enclosed.

By the end of my mother reading

the message, we realized what

the new gift was. We were getting

a puppy. (178)

my work. I would say my

best role as a student is

being a test-taker. On

the SAT and ACT, I

scored in a very high

percentile on students

that took it. Also, I have

earned a 4 on my Chem-

istry AP test. On top of

being a good test-taker, I

am very good at focus-

ing on the lesson and

retaining the informa-

tion. I take my time to

look at the teacher, and

I listen to what their say-

ing and find the impor-

tance in it. Finally, I have

some study habits that

are very important. I

need the most work on

my habits as a student,

but I have developed

ways of looking over ma-

terials and really making

sure I understand. I am

proud to say that I am

an impressive student at

school. (197)

I have always been a

strong student in school.

Being a strong student, I

possess many charac-

teristics including test-

taking, study habits, and

focusing on the lesson.

Throughout my life, I

have always worked

hard to earn not only

good grades, but

straight A‟s. I am proud

to say that many teach-

ers that I have been as-

sociated with have been

impressed and proud of

P e o p l e

P a g e 2

M y R o l e A s a S t u d e n t

“I’ve learned that to be

with the people I like is

enough.”

- Walt Whitman

D a v i d S o p o c i

F a m i l y M e m o r y

“The party isn’t

over, We can

still dance.”

- Tyler, the

Creator


“Old Man Swag”. Basically, I go

to Goodwill and try to find

something that resembles

crewneck sweatshirts from the

late 80s or into the 90s. From

there, I find some decently

matching socks and hats. (You

have to start with the extremi-

ties.) To complete my personal

style, I put on a pair of jeans or

khakis and “Old Man Swag” is

in full effect. Back in my fresh-

man year, I would‟ve never

thought of this as cool or good-

looking, but I realized it‟s much

easier to be cool by my own

standards than a catalog‟s.

(You also save a lot of money.

:)) (190)

dent, thought he would be cool

and make an arrogant rap de-

grading my class here at Fishers.

In his rap, he spoke of getting

stoned with the HSE head foot-

ball coach and skipping class to

do psychedelic „shrooms. Most

importantly, he talked about

driving our football into the ground and

eliminating us from the playoffs. When I

received word of his rap, I immediately

went to listen to it. After I had com-

pleted listening to his condescending,

empty rubbish, I decided to make a

comeback rap. My goal of the rap was

to basically take his words and turn

them on him. After a polished writing of

a solid song, I recorded it and posted it

to YouTube. The video exploded, and

people threw compliments my way left

and right. I felt as if I had done a great

job defending our school. Standing up

for our school when HSE thought they

could just push us around was my leg-

acy. (208)

As my ride at Fishers High School

comes to a halt, I would like to be

remembered as the “comeback”

guy. The setting of the tale of

DaveyLite began five days before

our 2012 sectional game against

the Royals. A young boy by the

pseudonym “Bw3avy”, an HSE stu-

C h a n g e s

T i m e C a p s u l e

M y L e g a c y

P a g e 3 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

Since the beginning of my high

school career, I have experi-

enced a drastic change in my

style and image. Back when I

was a freshman, I used to rock

lots of Aeropostle and Ameri-

can Eagle. I was all about the

preppy name brands and the

stores that had me wrapped

around their finger. Since then,

I have moved on, and I figured

out that my own style doesn‟t

have to cost much. I guess you

could call it relaxed-casual, but

I prefer my style to be called

1. iPod

2. CD Collection

3. Fishers High School Golf

Ball

4. Xbox Controller

5. Recording Microphone

My time capsule holds the things

I hold dear to me. My iPod and

CD Collection show how I appre-

ciate the music I listen to. The

golf ball and the controller show

how I like to spend my time. Fi-

nally, the microphone shows

that I record my own music.

M e m o r i e s


Sectionals took place

on June 4th at Purgatory Golf

Club. The sun scorched, but it

lit the sky as blue as the water

waiting for my golf ball. As I

stood on the seventeenth tee,

the trepidation had passed,

and as I waited for the group

ahead to complete the short

par three, I thought about my

previous holes. I found myself

staring down my best round

ever and a spot as an individ-

ual regional qualifier. Stepping

up to the ball, I proceeded with

my usual pre-shot routine. I

swung and watched as my ball

sailed on to the surface of the

green.

I approached my putt with in-

tent. The sound of the ball hit-

ting the bottom of the cup was

echoed by the roars of my

coach and brother. With that

birdie as momentum, I

unleashed my driver on hole

18. The puny white sphere

soared into the fairway. I was-

n‟t scared of the par 5; I went for

the green on my second shot.

The ball landed twenty feet from

the hole. Now only two putts

separated me from regionals.

After no success on the first putt,

I tapped the ball in and became

the third golfer in Fishers High

School‟s history to make it out of

the sectional. My score of 73 will

vividly remain in my memory, as

my greatest recollection of high

school. (228)

and understanding. Fur-

thermore, I plan to live a

comfortable, but simple

life. If I allow the mate-

rial things to control my

life, then I am allowing

greed to control my life.

Comfort comes with lack

of stress and lack of

stress comes from hap-

piness. The outlook is

bright, and I think that

my life is going to be

perfectly what I expect.

When I complete my

education I will be very

happy to be done, but I

hope that I have learned

more about myself and

more about what I can

achieve in the long run. I

will continue to love

what I love and no mat-

ter what life throws into

my equation. I plan to

remain true to myself as

a whole. (183)

As I continue with my

education, I continue to

pursue my dreams of

the future. Above all I

want to achieve peace

of mind. No materials

can achieve this feat. It

is through love and pas-

sion that I can find hap-

piness. I plan to instill

these characteristics

into my children be-

cause true family happi-

ness will be achieved

through love, patience,

A c h i e v e m e n t s

P a g e 4

F u t u r e


M y T r i u m p h

“Peace cannot

be kept by force;

it can only be

achieved by

understanding.”

- Albert

Einstein


T o p T e n A l b u m s / M i x t a p e s


10. XXYYXX – XXYYXX

This album is the best production I have ever heard in my life, but it only

features instrumentals.

9. A Kid Named Cudi – Kid Cudi

2nd album I had ever heard from Kid Cudi; his music has always been

some of the most original I‟ve heard.

8. Wolf – Tyler, the Creator

Tyler‟s subject matter and malevolent style really gave me a good ave-

nue of expression.

7. Best Day Ever – Mac Miller

First mixtape I ever heard by Mac Miller. He is now my favorite artist.

6. Channel Orange – Frank Ocean

Frank Ocean is the only non-rapper to make my list. His style and voice

has so many more complexities than all of the other singers I‟ve heard.

5. Beer Flavored Pizza – Choo Jackson

This upcoming rapper from Pittsburgh has served as a large inspiration

for me. He definitely does his own thing.

4. The Stoned Immaculate – Curren$y

Production on this CD completely blew my mind, and it introduced me to

the style of the Jet Life founder.

3. good kid, m.A.A.d city – Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar is one of the realest and most complex rappers I have

ever heard.

2. Macadelic – Mac Miller

Mac completely pushed the boundaries with deeper lyrics and complex

production.

1. Man on the Moon: The End of Day – Kid Cudi

This was the first Kid Cudi CD and the first rap CD that introduced me to

the alternative rap style, and it changed my opinion on all of music in


The game began with confi-

dence and ended with a blur of

indescribable triumph. As I sat

in my friend‟s egg-styled chair, I

watched as the puck skid off

the end of Patrick Kane‟s right-

handed stick into the back of a

heavy-guarded net. It was at

that point I knew the taste of

victory. I had never seen my

team win something so large.

My life had always been

stained by runner-up finishes

and never-could teams. Patrick

Kane and the 2010

B l a c k h a w k s

changed all that for

me. Though it wasn‟t me hold-

ing the cup, I knew the actual

feeling of triumph.

While Kane‟s shot was not the

one “heard around the world”,

it left a close-knit community of

Chicago fans in both shock and

relief. The 49-year Stanley Cup

drought was ended with a large

chalice of victory. The parade

sent thousands of the Black-

hawk-faithful through the

streets of Chicago. The day will

also live forever as the most

memorable for Blackhawk fans

all over the United States. While

fans aren‟t hopeful for another

long wait for championship, the

2010 Cup will be forever remem-

bered as the year the trend was

broken. (191)

http://

www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/

sports/hockey/10flyers.html?

pagewanted=all&_r=0

to. I saw the first build-

ing burning, still stand-

ing and burning. The

image never resonated

within my 7-year-old

mind, but I could under-

stand the magnitude.

Furthermore, as I sat on

the edge of my couch

staring at the image, a

sudden second explo-

sion hit the other tower.

My eyes welled up with

salty water. I cried, but I

did not understand why.

In retrospect, the mo-

ment the second plane

hit, I caught my first

sight of pure tragedy. It

was the first moment of

my life that I witnessed

pure evil happening to

good people. (In my

opinion, humans are

generally good.) I

learned to hate evil that

day. I did not learn to

hate people; I learned to

hate evil. (194)

http://www.history.com/

topics/9-11-attacks

That day was an infa-

mous day. That day will

always be an infamous

day. On September 11,

2001, two planes

crashed into the World

Trade Center in down-

town New York City. It

was all confusing to me

on that morning. I woke

up late, and I came

downstairs. My mom

stood watching the TV,

tears trailing off the

edges of her eyes. This

is an image that I can

never be desensitized

N e w s E v e n t s

P a g e 6

9 / 1 1


B l a c k h a w k s W i n S t a n l e y C u p

“Everybody’s

somebody’s

everything…

Nobody’s

nothing.”

- Chance, the

Rapper


One day everything changed for

Tiger when his personal life was

suddenly placed above his spec-

tacular ability. Tiger has now be-

come a cheater. No he was not a

cheater of the game; he was a

cheater with his wife. It was re-

vealed that the inhumane, invinci-

ble hero was no role model at all.

Every news station around was all

over the story of the “true life” of

Tiger Woods. I was not so appalled

by the findings.

For me, I have never

wanted to become another per-

son. I never wanted to wear an-

other person‟s shoes or walk in

another person‟s footsteps. While

Tiger was (and still is) my favorite

golfer, I admired Tiger‟s play on

the course and disregarded what

he did off of it. After the revelation

of the Tiger scandal, was I sup-

posed to become a pawn of the

media and disrespect a man‟s play

based on his personal life? I loved

to watch him play, and I have al-

ways been taught that forgiveness

is the best benefit you can give

yourself. So that is how I looked at

Mr. Woods. (209)

http://www.betus.com.pa/sports-

betting/golf/articles/tiger-woods-

affair-story/

did not deserve his titles.

I knew never to trust the

media, but I found out

the true strength of

greed that day. It can

take you to another

place, to another form

you never planned on

going. I am certain Arm-

strong never thought he

would be doping. When

he was a young, aspiring

cyclist he never thought

he would be in the situa-

tion he is in now. He al-

lowed greed to take over

his life in the form of

glory and fame and his-

tory. As I learned more

and more of the story I

vowed that would never

be me. As long as I stay

true to myself as I am

now, I can succeed and

be the best person I can

be. (202)

h t t p : / /

www.huffingtonpost.com

/2013/01/18/lance-

a r m s t r o n g - o p r a h -

i n t e r -

view_n_2508213.html

This story is about greed.

Lance Armstrong has

been known as the great-

est cyclist of all time. He

was the cyclist in the

world of sports. He beat

cancer, and he won the

Tour de France seven

times. Finally, the allega-

tions of his steroid use

was published. Could

they be true? Could the

invincible man be a

cheater? Finally, the re-

ports lead to Lance Arm-

strong going on Oprah

and admitting the truth.

He was a cheater, and he

T i g e r W o o d s S c a n d a l

L a n c e A r m s t r o n g ’ s S t e r o i d s


“I’m on the

pursuit of

happiness and I

know, everything

that shine ain’t

always gonna be

gold.”

-Kid Cudi

Back in 2005, Tiger

Woods was the most dominant

golfer of all-time. He was the jack-

of-all-trades. His putting was stel-

lar. His ball striking was amazing.

P o p C u l t u r e E v e n t s


P i e c e s o f A r t

A r t R e f l e c t i o n s S

tarry N

igh

t

Fu

ll focu

s o

n th

is p

ictu

re d

raw

s yo

u in

to its

abstra

ction

s. T

his

pic

ture

im-

me

dia

tely b

ecom

es m

ore

tha

n th

e m

idn

igh

t sky. M

ove

me

nt a

nd

mo

tion

are

po

rtraye

d. M

ore

tha

n m

otio

n, e

mo

tion

is p

ortra

yed

. Mu

ch

ca

n b

e

lea

rne

d fro

m th

is p

ictu

re. I n

otic

e th

at n

ight is

no

t calm

. Nig

ht is

alm

ost

livin

g a

nd

movin

g. A

s I lo

ok

at th

e p

ictu

re, I a

m e

nam

ore

d b

y Va

n G

ogh

‟s

vis

ion

. It is a

s if e

ve

rythin

g h

e s

ee

s h

as m

ore

tha

n ju

st p

ictu

re. H

e e

mb

od

-

ied

em

otio

n w

ithin

the

me

nta

l ima

ge

he

ha

d. A

true

artis

t in th

e fa

ct that

eve

rythin

g h

e d

id w

as tru

ly his

ow

n a

nd

inn

ova

tive

. Th

rou

gh

image

an

d

de

sig

n V

an

Go

gh

wa

s a

hu

nd

red

pe

rce

nt h

imse

lf an

d e

veryth

ing h

e c

re-

ate

d w

as h

is o

wn

. The

wo

rld la

ck

s w

ha

t this

pic

ture

ho

lds; th

e w

orld

is

resis

tan

t to o

rigin

ality. P

eo

ple

ha

ve

bee

n c

rea

ting a

ma

zing a

nd

inno

vative

wo

rk w

itho

ut re

cogn

ition

for g

en

era

tion

s. W

e d

on

‟t find

ou

r ow

n p

ath

or

find

the

gre

atn

ess w

ithin

hu

ma

ns. W

he

n yo

u s

ea

rch

for g

rea

tne

ss, e

ven

-

tua

lly you

will try to

find

the

gre

atn

ess

with

in yo

urs

elf, a

nd

tha

t will b

en

efit

be

yon

d yo

u to

the

en

tire w

orld

. (18

0)

Th

e R

oa

d N

ot T

ak

en

In re

trosp

ect, it is

ea

sy to

exa

min

e yo

ur life

an

d re

gre

t po

rtion

s o

f it. Op

-

tion

s a

rise

in life

, an

d it is

ea

sy to

choo

se

the

wro

ng o

ne

s. T

he

re is

a fo

rk

in e

ve

ry pa

th, a

nd

wh

en

on

e is

cho

se

n, it is

ea

sy to lo

ok

at th

e o

the

r on

e

an

d a

dm

ire w

ha

t you

se

e. T

o m

e, th

e p

oe

m is

tellin

g m

e to

ne

ver re

gre

t a

de

cis

ion

, be

cau

se

ea

ch

de

cis

ion

you

ma

ke

sha

pe

s yo

u in

to th

e p

erso

n

you

be

com

e. E

ve

ry tou

gh

de

cis

ion

you

face

cha

nge

s yo

ur p

ositio

n o

n th

e

ne

xt on

e. E

xpe

rien

ce is

wh

at m

ak

es th

e d

iffere

nce

, no

t righ

t or w

ron

g.

I be

lieve

this

po

em

ha

s to

me

tap

ho

rica

lly ha

ve to

do

with

Ro

be

rt Fro

st‟s

de

cis

ion

to b

eco

me

a w

riter a

nd

a p

oe

t. The

pa

th le

ss tra

vele

d w

as th

e

on

e to

live

a fre

ela

nce

, cre

ative

lifestyle

. He

ch

ose

tha

t pa

th, b

ut m

ore

imp

orta

ntly, h

e n

eve

r swa

yed

from

his

de

cis

ion

. He

ne

ve

r we

nt b

ack

to

the

lifestyle

of w

ork

ing in

an

offic

e, d

oin

g p

ap

erw

ork

, or w

ork

ing in

the

blu

e c

olla

r field

. He

rem

ain

ed

true

to h

is d

ecis

ion

, an

d h

e re

ma

ine

d tru

e

to h

imse

lf. Ro

be

rt Fro

st‟s p

oe

m is

truly in

sp

iratio

na

l. (18

5)

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I marked the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh


david sopoci's senior valedictory

Documents

e t t e r t o

e f i n d y o u r s

proud of p e o p

s t u d e n t ive

strong student

good testtaker

impressive student

senior david