Cocalico High School

Schae Bickel

Senior

Schae Bickel is a senior in the class of 2020 at Cocalico High School, and what makes her so unique is her willingness to help one rise from the dark depths of their battles in life. Therefore, she desires not only happiness for herself, but for every human being who has inherited the natural right to pursue happiness. This is why she looks up to her aunt so much, who is the most successful and happy person in her family. Schae is an uplifting person who takes the time to enjoy herself and the beauty in her life, but she also works hard and diligently in school and in the pursuit of her dreams. A major bookworm and aspiring writer with a musical appeal, it is no surprise that she dreams big. In fact, she hopes that someday, she will be able to visit all the Disney parks around the world.

Furthermore, Schae is ready to graduate and begin a new chapter in her life at college. However, one thing she will miss most about high school is seeing the big smiles of her teachers and friends. Specifically, her favorite teachers Mr. Wolf and Mrs. Schmid because they cover two of her favorite interests: journalism and psychology. Additionally, a lesson high school has taught her over the years is to never be afraid to ask questions because it is likely that you will not get anywhere if you sit back and allow events to happen instead of getting involved with what you want. It is a constant work-in-progress, and it will only get better with more practice.

After high school, Schae intends to attend Millersville University to major in psychology. She understands the road to college will bring many obstacles and challenges; nonetheless, she hopes to persevere in this journey and stay on the path she has chosen. Just as she has learned to adjust her life in high school, she hopes to also do the same in college and make many friends. At Millersville, her ultimate goal is to become a drug and alcohol counselor for rehab facilities. It has been a dream of hers over the years to help people get back on track with their lives and give people a purpose to live that does not involve destroying their lives with harmful substances. Overall, Schae wants to be a person who attends to people’s needs and helps people because she has the ability to do so.

Written by: Melody Pha

Anthony Vazquez

Junior

Anthony Vazquez, a junior at Cocalico High School, strives to have an optimistic view about life and people. He is the person that holds on to hope even when there’s no hope. He believes in the person that everyone else looks down on. He pushes through, even when all else fails. This kind of person exemplifies his grandfather who Anthony strives to become. His grandfather was raised in a strict family and every time he hears stories of his grandfather, he aspires to be as strong as he was, pushing through even when times get rough.

Anthony has exceptional faith in the worst of people and hopes to be there for people in need. He has a strong heart for the needy and expresses his will to make an impact on someone’s life. Ever since he was young, he wanted to be a superhero and greatly affect people.

When it comes to his future, Anthony hopes to become a high school English teacher. English is his delight because he enjoys writing stories and is taking Speech and Creative Writing, a course offered at Cocalico. He describes English as the only subject that calms his soul and gives him pure joy.

In addition, his advice for other high school students is to always be confident and ask for help: “Never suffer through classes, and reach out, and be as social as you can. It’s your chance to make friends. High school is an opportunity that you only get once, so use it best instead of wasting it.” A lesson high school has taught Anthony so far is that there is always room to improve yourself: to be better, strive better, and work better. You are never really one person; you are always changing because everyone is their own version of a work-in-progress. Therefore, before Anthony graduates, he hopes to end high school with good grades and new friends.

Overall, Anthony hopes to attend Millersville as an English major after high school and plans to reach this goal by service learning with an English teacher for his senior year. More than that, his life-long dream is to always be of help to someone else.

Written by: Melody Pha

Kristina Davis

Senior

Kristina Davis, a senior at Cocalico High School, is excited to jump into her solicitous path that will begin once she graduates in five months. The next path she takes will lead her to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, to chase her dream major, which is zoology or animal behavior. She will be miles away from home, but this will escort her to endless possibilities and adventures. Although scared to her bones, she breaks a sweat in school to make her dreams a reality.

In the meantime, she delights herself in debate club, the swim team, and NHS on top of making time with friends she values. Additionally, she enjoys hiking and camping in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. A country girl at heart and a food-lover, she loves her sister who is also her best friend. At the moment, her favorite series has to be A Court of Thorns and Roses because the story includes just about every genre that exists and has beautiful, underrated writing. If given the chance, should would like to try to reduce climate change in the world.

Unfortunately, one thing she has realized about high school is that time does not wait for her to catch up; but rather, it rushes to the future sometimes faster than she realizes. Kristina especially faces this challenge with her friends as they all walk their separate paths in life. It continues to rush while she has to learn to adjust to change and make the best out of it. As Kristina faces this hard truth, she is learning to value her time with friends since she will no longer see them in college. However, she has also learned that “you can make the most unlikely of friends”, and hopes that will be the case in college.

Moreover, Kristina envisions that college will be a refreshing environment for her to reach in order to explore new horizons. She is ready to move out of her thirteen-year shell of mandatory schooling and move on to the next big step. Nonetheless, above all things, Kristina concluded by saying, “Take a step back and breathe. As important as school is, nothing should be more important than your mental and physical health.”

Written by: Melody Pha

Ning Bucolo

Senior

Ning Bucolo, a senior at Cocalico High School, is a diligent and committed person when it comes to recreational activities and academics. Her dedication and willfulness is spread around many rewarding activities, such as the Cocalico field hockey team, Leo club, and National Honor Society. With all of the demanding tasks she receives from these activities, she still finds the time to do what she loves: going on long runs and doing CrossFit. In the midst of these exciting events, she predominantly enjoys spending time with friends and family and making notable memories.

Ning’s academic life is challenging with AP Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, AP Chemistry and many other courses occupying much of her time and effort in high school. However, taking arduous classes has benefited her in the long-term because it has helped prepare her for senior year. Moreover, her favorite class she has attempted is Anatomy and Physiology because she finds “the human body interesting,” and the class is “completely different from any other class [she] has taken”.

With high school reaching its end, Ning is excited to start a new chapter in her life at the University of Pittsburg and be able to meet new people while studying what she is passionate about: the field of neuroscience. In the meantime, one thing Ning will miss most about high school is playing field hockey with her teammates, but she will least miss early mornings. An important lesson high school has taught her is that there are many high points and low points that follow, but it ultimately shapes you into the best person you can be. High school is the prologue that will prepare many students like Ning for their future life success.

Nonetheless, Ning expresses that life’s trials would have been difficult without friends to help carry the burdens of life: “There are always really hard days during school and life in general, and friends truly do make a difference in lifting your spirits.” Overall, Ning has learned to never be afraid of asking for help and is a work-in-progress at being the best version of herself.

Written by: Melody Pha

Yuliya Shepilo

Junior

Yuliya Shepilo, a junior at Cocalico High School, is a far-reaching, optimistic person that expresses her inventiveness in many areas of her life. This involves school, sports, the arts, and people. She often draws leisurely when given the moment and continually seeks to enhance her artistry. She takes her love for art a step further to incorporate her aptitude with dancing, which she has engaged in throughout her childhood. In addition, she played tennis for Cocalico’s team, which brought more of her team spirit and taught her the key of devotion to pursuing a goal.

Besides the daily coming-and-going jostle of school, she enjoys meeting with friends and embraces the classes she has together to work on thrilling projects. Being an outgoing and sociable person herself, she believes working together makes everything more enjoyable. We can procrastinate and complain, but it’s more assuring when everyone puts in the same effort with the same goal in mind.

Not only that, but she delights in writing creative stories that inspire adventure; in fact, Yuliya hopes to one day travel around the world to her heart’s content and explore the vast unique cultures that make up the beginning of people’s stories. Everyone has an origin, a starting place, and for Yuliya her beginning started in a city called Donetsk, Ukraine. Being a naturally intrigued person, she is fascinated by other cultures and has learned many languages of which she hopes to continue to build upon.

In all of these activities, she makes sure to include a part of who she is by taking classes that touch each area of her interests: AP Language and Composition, German, and 2D art. These interests nurture her desire to help those in need, travel, become a journalist, and always work hard. Yuliya hopes to accomplish most of this in her life, and, if given the chance to change one thing, help abandoned animals who are left alone on the streets.

Moreover, Yuliya hopes to attend Lebanon Valley College after high school with the hopes of becoming a journalist. She also aspires to move to a big city and reach all of her dreams. As Walt Disney claims, “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

Written by: Melody Pha

Rohan Wallia

Junior

Charismatic, ambitious, and ludicrous junior Rohan Wallia is your typical fun guy that lifts the spirits of his classmates and teachers. This is mainly due to his love of socializing with friends and learning about important events. He also enjoys playing volleyball. He regards volleyball as one of his best accomplishments to date explaining, “I was bad in the beginning, but improved near the end.” Further, Rohan seeks to be successful not only athletically, but academically as well. Science is his favorite subject because learning how things work amazes him. He satisfies this curiosity by taking AP Biology and plans to take AP AB chemistry in the future. After high school, he plans to attend a four-year college and major in computer programming.

In addition, Rohan’s number one goal in life is to make his family proud, and he looks up to his dad. This is because in 1984 his dad made the decision to move to America and had no family there, so he had to do everything by himself and get a job. One thing Rohan believes everyone should have is kindness, which would lead to less greed in the world. Moreover, in his heart, he desires to help everyone by being kind. If Rohan could change one thing about the world, it would be world hunger because “everyone deserves to eat and not be impoverished.” If given the opportunity to visit the past, he would visit Washington and ask him what inspired him to be a leader. In his free time, Rohan hangs out with friends, plays basketball and video games, and spends time with family.

Written by: Melody Pha

Ruthlene Dominique

Junior

Ruthlene Adassa Dominique, most commonly called Adassa, is a junior at Cocalico High School for the 2019-2020 school year. An interesting fact about her is that she grew up in Haiti and moved to Pennsylvania a year ago. Along with her move to the United States, she continues to learn what it means to be an American as she carries her own culture.

When reminiscing about her life back in Haiti, she emphasizes how much she misses the sun, and that Pennsylvania is colder than what she is used to. However, one surprising yet good change she has noticed is the school system she is used to. Back in Haiti, teachers would come and go while students would stay in one classroom for the rest of the day. She commented that it was very boring, and the change to the American system was surprisingly more exciting. In addition, Adassa had an impression that everywhere in America was like New York. To her surprise, however, she loved the idea of small boroughs and a great deal of beautiful land to survey.

Adassa hopes to go to college and, for now, is thinking of majoring in communications. Her favorite class is English, and she loves to read mainly dystopian, romance, and biography books. Besides reading, she enjoys listening to ayisyen, kompa, r&b, and hip-hop music. Good luck to Adassa for the remainder of the school year!

Written by: Melody Pha