Opinions

Don’t Be That Kid

Claire Quigley, Opinions Editor • February 15, 2013

You can find them in every class at Staples. For all you know, I could be talking about the person you’ve been sharing a lab table with all semester. We’ve all witnessed them in action, and sadly, some of us have even epitomized them. I’m talking about “that kid.” Every year I’m faced with the challenge of ignoring these special gems in my classes, hoping it will get better. Nope. It’s impossible. “That kid” never fails to ruin what could have been a perfectly good class period, and here’s why:

1. The “is this going to be on blackboard” kid. They have their iphone in their hand with the My Staples app open, their computer open in front of them, and their assignment book lying on their desk. But still, they need to know if the assignment being given to them at that exact moment will be on Blackboard.

2. No one, I repeat, NO ONE wants to hear the kid who blows their nose during class. The sound of it sends chills down the spine of everyone in the classroom. Yet for some reason, there is always that boy or girl who considers his/herself exempt to this rule. Wrong. NO one is exempt. I personally think tissues should be banned from the school in general. And as for those despicable individuals who have the audacity to blow their nose more than once in the same class period- it is time to take a nice hard look at yourself in the mirror.

3. Let’s not forget the girl putting on a dance review under her desk. Everyone taps their feet from time to time, and I get that, but you are not a Rockette. This is not Radio City Music Hall, and 10 straight minutes of foot tapping is ten minutes too long.

4. To the kid in everyone’s gov class who constantly feels the need to announce his test grade to the entire class: it’s really really cool that you got a 99.5. I’m positively thrilled. No. I’m having more and more trouble suppressing the urge to hit you in the face with a textbook. I think I would volunteer to fail the next test if it meant that you failed with me.

5. The kid who still can’t hear his teacher read the word “breast” without exploding into a fit of giggles. And God forbid he hears “bosom.” Game over, he will be on the floor.

6. There’s also the kid who constantly has his iPod or iPhone headphones in his ears during class and thinks that he is performing some huge act of rebellion. He bobs his head all through the period, looking around with a smug grin on his face to see if anyone notices. Yes, we ALL notice…. but we also know that you’re not listening to music…so badass.

7. Finally, the kid in my math class who consistently shouts out the answer to questions I ask the teacher is the single worst thing that’s ever happened to me. He sits all the way across the room in the opposite corner, but is sure to make his presence known. This kid sets a new standard for the term “know-it-all.”

About the Contributors

Claire Quigley, Opinions Editor

Claire Quigley ’14 is an opinions editor on Inklings Newspaper. She has many hobbies that include dance, lacrosse, and is an active member of many clubs. Claire’s main focus for the past three years has been giving back to both her own community, and others as well. She has been apart of her church’s youth club for almost three years with many of her friends. This past summer, she had the amazing opportunity to help the less fortunate in the Dominican Republic. Claire and her youth group helped build houses, and teach many children who do not have the opportunity for an education speak English. “Those 10 days changed my life, I felt great each and every day because I knew I was making a difference.” said Quigley ’14. Aside from traveling to the Dominican, Claire and her youth group have also helped locally around Connecticut. She has helped build gardens, feed the homeless, and raise money for causes she believes in. She has put in many hours towards her youth group, and truly believes they are helping the world one project at a time. Besides Claire being a part of her youth group outside of school, she also enjoys writing both outside and inside school. This year Claire will be finishing her third year on Inklings and is excited to write many articles for both the paper and the web. Claire’s favorite article she wrote was “Where do I upload my Pictures?”

Daniela Karpenos, Web News Editor

Daniela Karpenos ’15, a dedicated member to Inklings, is not just an important part of the paper, but she is also very educated in the field of psychology. When Karpenos isn’t playing Tennis for Trumbull or the Wreckers, or organizing charity events for her temple youth board, or speaking Russian with her twin, or fulfilling her duties as Web News Editor of Inklings, she is working hard to become a well-studied psychology student. Karpenos has worked on Inklings for three years, and her senior year marks her first position on the paper. She took the Intro to Journalism class in freshman year and has been on the paper from sophomore all the way to senior year. She has progressively gotten more involved, as she started taking photos freshman year and worked her way up to a News Editor position this year. Karpenos is also passionate about psychology. She plans to major in Clinical Psychology when she goes to college. In the summer of 2014 she interned at the Yale Child Studies Center where she was entering and validating data. She also participated in an ongoing study about A.D.D. where Yale is attempting to develop a game that would help kids with A.D.D. focus better. In the summer of 2013, she went to the Yale Explo -- where she worked on her creative writing and studied psychology. It is clear that Karpenos is a dedicated learner and when asked about her career choices she said she wanted to pursue psychology and, “Although I don’t see myself in a journalism career I definitely will use skills I’ve developed here.”