PHOTO ESSAY: Humans of MIPA 2018

July 31, 2018 by upstart 1 Comment

“I try to read a book a week. The rush that I get from finishing a good story compares to nothing else in the world, and I can’t get enough of it.”-Henry Ayrault, Grosse Pointe South HS
PHOTO/Zach Heimbuch

“I volunteer at the veterans hospital. I know a lot of them have very tough lives, they’ve lived through the war. Many of them have psychological problems and some of them have amputated limbs. Overall, they go through a really tough day, especially the ones in wheelchairs. They used to be full-grown men and now they need someone to help them around. I do a lot of taking them places. I love it because I can just make small conversations with them. Even though it’s not a lot, it’s something I can do to make them feel a little better in that moment. It really makes me think about life in general. It hasn’t been that long since they’ve been in the war. So much can change so quickly. These men who fought for the country and were running in the battlefield can now barely wheel themselves across the hospital. It really makes me think about living my life to the fullest because I never know when I might lose my leg, or my arm, or even my life. Now I just live every moment because my brother may have to wheel me around in a wheelchair tomorrow.” –Navya Chamiraju, Grosse Pointe South High School PHOTO/Victoria Gardey

“When I was in seventh grade, my friend died, Lucy. I had gotten to know her really well. We had journalism together. We ate lunch together. And then she left for Christmas break, and she never came back. It was the first time I truly felt grief. At first it absolutely sucks. It was the worst feeling to have. I would have rather broken my arm 10 times over than feel grief. When someone’s gone, they’re gone. Gone. I never expected anything like that to happen, let alone to one of my friends who was 12 years old. It was a shock, but after that I’m always on the edge. If my mom is half an hour late coming home from work, I worry she got killed in a car crash. Now that I’ve been through that I’m always jumping to the worst possibilities. I’m aware now that death happens and I try to control it. It was eye opening.”–Elizabeth Flower, Grosse Pointe South High School PHOTO/Victoria Gardey

This is gonna sound really lame, but when I was at Comic Con with my friend it was just a really good time. Comic Con is a really accepting place. It’s a good community to be a part of. You get to interact with the other cosplayers, I was Stevonnie from Steven’s Universe. It feels really good when people stop you and say, “Hey, can I take your picture?” It’s a really good feeling. Vidalia Wenzlick, Ovid Elsie High School
PHOTO/Madison Gladney

“We have about 30 people on staff. It’s nice, it’s kind of like a family. People are there for each other and help each other out, like if anyone needs help editing. It’s a great way to get to know people.” Alex Stenmam, Edina HS PHOTO/Audrey Whitaker

“I’m excited for being able to show the other graphics editors at my school the cool things I’ve learned. The new theme we’ve created (in Photoshop) draws in a different aspect to years before. It’s much more simplistic and you have to kind of read into the picture to get what’s being shown.” Olivia Perron, Troy HS
PHOTO/Samantha Fisher

“There’s a lot of people that I feel like are more qualified in journalism and I see the kind of stuff that they’re producing—their papers and stuff that they bring—and I’m a little overwhelmed and intimidated and a little embarrassed by the quality of stuff that I made. So I’m trying to get up on my feet and get to that level where they’re at. I need to focus more on the conversation part, the interview. When you’re interviewing with someone, you want it to be like a conversation like we’re having now. You don’t want it to be as forced like asking them questions with answers you’re already expecting.”
Alex Stenman, Edina High School PHOTO/Ava Brewer

“My biggest piece of advice would be, if you see someone that has an issue, offer help and be there to listen, because if someone is going through something and nobody is there to listen it makes it that much harder on the person. When I was 13 my mom had a new boyfriend that lived with us and he touched me inappropriately; it started escalating and then he moved out. We went to court for it and now he is currently in prison. He has charges from six other girls. I felt really alone with it because I didn’t tell anyone and nobody noticed and nobody was there to listen. If I would’ve had someone to talk to earlier it would’ve been so much easier.” Jasmine Blemaster Ovid-Elsie High School PHOTO/Regina Pauly

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“What I really like about viola is especially when there’s hard pieces or passages, just the feeling when you know you nailed it. It doesn’t happen a lot, but when you feel like you really got it it just makes me feel proud. I did this. I accomplished that. Even in the orchestra setting, when the viola section does something or has their own special moment.” Charlote Parent, Grosse Pointe South sophomore PHOTO/Victoria Gardey

“(I am struggling with) deciding on a college right now. I’m trying to figure out if I want to go straight to university or if I should get my basics done at a community college.” Evelyn Fender, Ovid-Elsie High School PHOTO/Emily Schaaf

“I never got really hurt in cheerleading, but I was a backspot for stunting and a girl fell on top of me once. She only hit her head, but it wasn’t really a big deal. I kinda saved her life, it was awesome.”
Naya Bass, Washtenaw Technical Middle College
PHOTO/Sami Ruud

“I lost a large amount of my friends over the process of three years. My sophomore year seven students died in my school district, one of them being my good friend had committed suicide at the beginning of the year. It set me back, especially with mental health. Death itself is shocking, but it just had a ripple effect through people creating everyone to lose part of themselves and to be worn down. My junior year I missed 20 to 40 days of school because I did not have a therapist when I should have my grades fell drastically behind. This was all because I didn’t diversify properly with my friends and such, so my advice would be to have close friends but always diversify the people you hang around.” – George White Ann Arbor Huron PHOTO/Regina Pauly

Comments

Annie Hamaty says

July 31, 2018 at 1:40 pm

Hi my name is Annie and I take the Opinion Coverage class at MIPA this year. The article is to the point and intriguing, as is the headline. Seeing these two people I haven’t met at MIPA yet is interesting, so I wish you would have included more students.

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