VIENNA POOLE by Nora Fitzpatrick

Every day, students across the country roam their school’s familiar halls. For Vienna Poole, the halls she walked this April were less familiar.

In late April of this year, eighth grader, Vienna Poole moved from Thomas Harrison Middle School in Harrisonburg, Virginia to Placerita Junior High School in Santa Clarita, California. 

For Vienna, the move late in the school year prevented her from a smooth transition into middle school. “The majority of people in the school have already found their groups or areas,” she said.

Despite these obstacles, Vienna is entering the upcoming school year with an open mind. “[The end of the year] opened my eyes to see what could be for the next year,” she said.

Vienna is an actor and has participated in various theater productions for 10 years and she hopes to continue pursuing her passion on screen and in her school’s show choir.

As a member of the Santa Clarita choir Vienna hopes that her love of music will be able to help her form friendships at her new school. She finds that a shared love of music is one of the best ways to form bonds with people. “Different genres [of music] are a way of expression for people,” she said. 

Although the upcoming school year is filled with uncertainty for all, Vienna hopes her love and pursuit of music will help her carve out a spot in her new school community.

JUDE BIXLER by Emma Fetterolf

A new school year is about to begin for 11, almost 12 year old Jude Bixler. This year he will be entering the seventh grade, but as always he will begin the year as one of the youngest kids in his grade. 

Bixler, being one of the youngest kids in his grade, has faced bullying over his age since he was young. The other people in his grade would often treat him differently. Overlooking Bixler’s academic achievements or underestimating his abilities just because of his age. As Bixler grew, he began to learn to let things roll off his back and “shrug it off.”

While Bixler doesn’t have an issue with being on the younger side of his grade, he does wish he could be one of the older kids. “Nobody can really tell me what to do,” Bixler said, “I can be the boss of myself, which I like.” 

If Bixler was one of the older kids, he would make an effort to make sure everyone felt included. “From experience, it doesn’t feel good to be excluded,” he said.

Bixler’s experiences with being picked on has altered the way he views what a role model is. “A role model is about being a good leader, but at the same time being able to teach.” Bixler said. 

As a role model himself, Bixler tries to hold himself to those same values. Along with the ability to lead and teach, Bixler added one last attribute a role model should have. “When teaching someone younger, you should include them. You need to make them feel like they matter,” Bixler said.

MEG PRINS by Sarah Chung

Meg Prins, a seventh grader at Thomas Harrison Middle School, said her favorite hobby is playing softball. This spring she played for All-Stars. 

Prins said, “I love softball because I get to be with my friends and I love to be competitive. 

Despite her love she doesn’t want to pursue softball as a career in the future. Prins said “I don’t want to be a softball player for college or professional because I don’t want to put a lifetime of effort into softball and might not get it and also there is so much stuff that is more important to this world.”

Instead of pursuing softball she said, “I want to be a FBI or a police officer because I love the feeling of being helping people and saving people in danger or who are in need of help.” 

She thinks knowing what she wants to do in the future is good because it allows her to prepare for what needs to happen. She now has something to do to build up to her goal while doing something she loves like softball.

NORA FITZPATRICK by Vienna Pooole

Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. All the way from Alexandria, Virginia, Nora Fitzpatrick’s greatest strength is being able to blend into social settings. 

“I am able to blend in well in groups,” started Fitzpatrick. “So when I go into new social situations, I can communicate well with people and I know that… some people have trouble communicating well.”

Despite Fitzpatrick’s strength, like all people, she has her weaknesses too. 

“My biggest weakness is… I’m unorganized, and that doesn’t serve me well at home or during any projects at school.” 

Her weaknesses can have a negative impact on her daily life by causing setbacks when it matters most. 

“Especially in journalism,” she explained, “my strength and weakness really clash. I love communicating and telling people stories, but sometimes, I get writer’s block or miss deadlines because I’m too unorganized with my ideas.”

Fitzpatrick discovered her strength early on, as her parents used to say she talked a lot. Over time, she realized this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. 

“Communicating with people actually has a lot of bonuses,” she shared. 

On the other hand, she discovered her weakness through frustrating school experiences, like forgetting one assignment that tanked her grade despite doing well on everything else. 

“That would really upset me,” she admitted, “because I knew it wasn’t a reflection of what I could do—it was just because I was disorganized.”

SARAH CHUNG by Meg Prins

Sarah Chung, 13, goes to Skyline Middle School. 

“May of this year was my first year competing in gymnastics and I got first place,” Chung said. 

Gymnastics is one of the many things Chung values in her life. Chung has been in gymnastics for seven years now. You can tell that Chung is so dedicated to gymnastics because  she goes to the gym three times a week for more than three hours!

”I coach too so I am normally at the gym for ten hours every week.

When she was young 

“I wanted to be a ballerina and study ballet, but I had so much energy and ballet didn’t do anything so I went into gymnastics.” 

When Chung watched the Olympics when she was four years old she got inspired by watching interviews of how the gymnasts got started. Chung chose to come to jCamp because 

“I wanted to make newspapers about sports and take pictures and write down interviews and make newspapers in general.”

WANA CHUNDA by Zoey Loflin

Wana Chunda, 14, is going into her first year at Turner Ashby High School as a freshman in Rockingham County, Virginia. One of Wana’s hobbies is playing her guitar. She plays a range of music from Country to Pop. She was originally introduced to it from watching TV shows like Austin and Ally and Jessie. She played for a few years when she was younger and took a break from it until recently. She now enjoys playing regularly on her electric as well as her acoustic guitar. 

“I feel like an artist whenever I create pieces and play.” 

Outside of playing her guitar, she enjoys reading and watching TV. Wana says she also tends to read people very well.

“I’m very good at reading body language and telling people’s emotions.”

Wana doesn’t have or want pets, but her family owns a farm

“I can’t keep a plant alive…”

Wanas life has taken her from Zambia, Africa, to Richmond, then to her current residence in Rockingham County.

“I have been to many places and I keep a part of each one with me.”

Wana’s favorite movie is A Bugs Life. It’s also one other mom’s top movies, which has led her to watch it regularly throughout her life.

“It’s my favorite movie because Flynn, the main ant, [is] open-minded… he sees a problem and he wants to fix it. He’s just willing to go outside, venture out where nobody else has, to come up with a solution, and try to help his ant colony.”

ALICE NUTTER by Abbey Sellers

“I’m actually from England. I moved to the U.S. at the beginning of my fourth-grade year,” Alice Nutter, an eighth grade student at Skyline Middle School, said. “I was actually really excited to move, but I do really miss it because I have a lot of friends there.”

Nutter met with me on a beautiful afternoon on the JMU Quad. We chatted a little on our walk over to the shady bench about our backgrounds and what we wanted to take away from JCamp. Once we had a seat, we dove into personal questions about passions, hobbies and joys in life.

“Sports definitely have a big impact on my life, cross country, mostly,” Nutter said. “It gives me something to do, and it’s something that I’m known for. It’s something that I’m good at, and I feel like my teammates can trust me.” 

Nutter runs cross country, participates in track, plays soccer and swims. She said she enjoys sports as a whole along with music and scuba diving. 

“I have my scuba license. I went to Georgia a few months ago and scuba dived with a whale shark,” Nutter said.

Like most middle schoolers, friendship plays a large role in Nutter’s life. Nutter holds her friends close to her, and some of her favorite memories are times spent with them. 

“My favorite memories from elementary and middle are probably playing tag with my friends on the playground. It was just such an easy, worry-free time,” Nutter said.

ZOEY LOFLIN by Wana Chunda

Zoey Loflin,  a teenager from Harrisonburg, Virginia just turned 14. Her  hobbies are dance, which she has done since she was three. Mountain biking and hitch she has been doing for some six years , and photography which she has been doing for two years, and is also the reason why she is at jCamp this year. 

“I’ve learned that I really like taking photos of landscapes and people capturing the life and essence of nature”

She said she enjoys listening to Lauren Spencer Smith  because the style of the music and the songs  sound good to her.

“I like that her music can be listened to in any mood and just works.”

Zoe has been shaped into the person that she is today because of the people she surrounds herself with. She feels as though a part of the people she interacts with become a part of her. She learns something new with each person she interacts with.

 Zoey is a insightful individual as shown through her answer to the question: If someone were to walk up to you on the street and ask for life advice what would you tell them?

“Be yourself. Don’t compare yourself to others, because everyone is at a different level in various stages of life.”

EMMA FETTEROLD by Jude Bixler

Emma Fetterolf is a senior from Alexandria,Virginia. She is 17 years old and takes walks regularly. Her dog is with her lots of the time accompanying her on her morning walks. Every morning she takes a walk.

 “I feel like I’m dying not being able to take a walk. She said the reason she can’t take walks is because she needs to bring a friend with her and she likes taking walks alone.

Fetterolf is interested in marketing. 

She said “I love trying to convince people that they should buy something.” She said her greatest fear was drowning.