Bitten By the Lovebug

A majority of many high school teenage girls would do anything in order to find their one Prince Charming. Someone who is always there for them, is able to surprise them in a unique and sentimental way, and who has a true connection with them. Prince Charming is their best friend, comforts them in times of sorrow, and maintains a relationship of laughter and love. For some Pres girls, this fairytale has become a reality. The Voice had an opportunity to speak with several students about their relationships with their high school sweethearts.

Jamyson Tritch & Drew Willner
Anniversary Date: October 10, 2008; Together 3 years & 3 months

The Voice: How did you two meet?
JT: We actually met at the [Pres] freshman mixer in 2008 and then he friended me on Facebook. I had trouble with math during my freshman year and I knew he was smart. So I messaged him on Facebook, asking if he could tutor me and promised to save him a dance at the Bellarmine mixer.

The Voice: How did he ask you to be his girlfriend?
JT: At the next Bellarmine mixer, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I said, “No,” because I didn’t really know him that well. Then he texted me a week later and asked me if I wanted to go see a movie. I said, “Yes,” and had such a good time. We kept on talking and he took me to a football game, which was on October 10, and he made me chili. We say that’s the date when we got together because he never really asked me again, since he was probably nervous and didn’t want me to say no again.

The Voice: Describe your first date.
JT: We went to the movies. After that, I remember sitting on a bench with him, waiting for my parents to come pick me up. I held hands with him and I wrote in my diary that night that he was the best hand holder I’ve ever held hands with.

The Voice: What do you like most about your relationship?
JT: It’s really nice because I’ve been able to see him grow as a person. We’ve really become good friends. He gives me a sense of security.

The Voice: When you two have disagreements on something, how do you guys try to solve the problem?
JT: We just talk. It’s really important that you actually say what you feel, instead of making up. In a long-term relationship, if you don’t talk about how you feel about something, it’ll just bottle up inside of you and that’s never really healthy. When you talk about it, you can work out that problem and not really have it be an issue anymore.

The Voice: What’s your typical date like?
JT: We just go to each other’s houses and hang out. But when we do actually go out, we like to have dinner and see a movie.

The Voice: How do you guys find time to hang out with one anotherwith your busy schedules?
JT: Drew and I find the time to hang out because we are a priority to one another. When someone is really important to you, you find the time to make it work. We try to hang out every Friday night. This planning sets up our dates in advance so that we both know that we are committed to hanging out. Also, when our schedules get really hectic we take the few moments we do have for each other. We do things together that you could do alone when we get really busy. For example, sometimes we study together or have dinner together.

The Voice: Who do you usually go to for advice about your relationship?
JT: I go to Drew. I know, it sounds counter-intuitive. However, when I have a problem in my relationship, I have learned that it is better to just talk to the person I have the problem with. By opening up, Drew and I can work out our own problems.

The Voice: What advice would you give other couples about dating?
JT: Be yourself! If the person youwant to date doesn’t like you for who you are/who you want to become, then it probably isn’t the person you want to be dating. If you paint a picture for your partner of who you are, they will expect you to be that person, which will only cause problems later down the line.
Also, don’t be superficial. There is a lot more to a person then their “hot bod” or “cute face.” Although being physically attracted to that person is important, don’t let it be the biggest part of choosing a boyfriend because a relationship should be about who they are and not what they look like.

The Voice: How do you see your relationship in the future?
JT: Unfortunately, I am not completely sure what the future holds for Drew and me. We are both off to college in the fall and we both do not want a long distance relationship. All we know for sure is that no matter what we will always be friends.

The Voice: Are you two doing anything special for Valentine’s Day?
JT: He said that he’s getting me a present and he’s really excited about it. But I didn’t know we were giving each other gifts this year, so I have to work that out.

Lilly Murphy & Cooper Leaone
Anniversary date: June 18, 2009; Together 2 years & 7 months

The Voice: Where and how did you two meet?
LM: Cooper joined my school in fifth grade. I knew his name, but he was really shy. Then he became best friends with one of my best guy friends, so I was able to get to know Cooper more. We eventually became best friends and had crushes on each other.

The Voice: Describe your first date.
LM: The first one-on-one date we had was probably when we watched Ice Age: The Meltdown. We had Pizza My Heart after that. He was very easy to talk to, since we were already best friends.

The Voice: What was your best date?
LM: So on our first year [of dating], we went to Petroglyph. He made me a steamboat with my name, S.S. Lilly, and I made him a purple dragon or dinosaur. Then we went out to dinner and walked around downtown Willow Glen. It was really fun and simple.

The Voice: What’s your typical date like?
LM: He lives five minutes from Pres, so I’ll usually go to his house. We love playing the Wii, since I’m really competitive. But we also went to a cooking camp over the summer, so we got all these recipes and now we cook all the time.

The Voice: What do you like most about your relationship?
LM: We get along so well and really like to hang out in a chill environment. I think we’re also really honest and funny, so it’s great to be around each other.

The Voice: How do you guys find time to hang out with one another since you have busy schedules?

LM: Usually see each other every Friday or during B Days. But I live in Morgan Hill, so sometimes it’s really hard to see each other more than once a week. We try and make it work out.

The Voice: When you two have arguments about something, how do you try and solve the problem?
LM: Well he’s really stubborn and quiet, while I’m the type of person to talk it out and share my feelings. But we don’t fight a lot. There’s probably just one big fight every six months, but it’s never gotten to the point where we’ve broken up or needed space. At the end of the day, we’re still best friends.

The Voice: What advice would you give other couples about dating?
LM: The advice I would give is to keep to the simplest of things, like enjoying each other’s company and being honest with yourself and everyone else. I like celebrating every one month anniversary because you’re only in high school once, so enjoy every second of it.

The Voice: How do you see your relationship in the future?
LM: We’ve talked about it with each other, but I don’t think we’re going to break up any time before senior year. But when people go to college, it’s an important time to find yourself and not to be tied down. You don’t need to make your decisions in real life based on someone else. If it’s meant to be, then it’s meant to be.

The Voice: Are you two planning on doing something special for Valentine’s Day?
LM: Well, I already asked him to be my Valentine. We don’t have anything planned, but we’ll probably go to a nice dinner or do something fancy.

Camille Borja & Marquis Onorato
Anniversary Date: August 21, 2010; Together 1 year & 5 months

The Voice: Where and how did you two meet?
CB: We met at Bellarmine summer school and our two close friends introduced us.

The Voice: Describe your first date.
CB: We went to the movies and watched Salt. It was a little awkward at first and he forgot to pay but by the third date, we were able to connect really well.

The Voice: What was your best date?
CB: It was when we went to Golfland because he asked me to be his girlfriend that day. That’s when he became my first boyfriend.

The Voice: What’s your typical date like?
CB: We’re usually at my house with my mom hanging out. We don’t go out that much unless we feel like it, because we run out of places to go.

The Voice: What do you like most about your relationship?
CB: I like that we’ve become best friends through being in a relationship. We can tell each other anything.

The Voice: How do you guys find time to hang out with one another with your busy schedules?
CB: Whenever we have free time, we always try and hang out. We sometimes see each other on B Days, but it just depends on whether or not we have a lot of homework.

The Voice: What advice would you give other couples about dating?
CB: You really need to have good communication, patience and trust to have a successful relationship.

The Voice: How do you see your relationship in the future?
CB: I think we’re going to all of high school, but college will be the deciding factor on whether we want to keep dating or not.

The Voice: Are you two planning on doing something special for Valentine’s Day?
CB: I think he’s planning on taking me to dinner and to see the movie, The Vow.

PDA: Public Displays of Atrocity

We’ve all been exposed to it, whether it is through media or school: the handholding, the pecks on the cheek, and the lingering hugs. These signs of endearments, universally known as public displays of affection, can be cute in small doses. But it’s almost impossible to walk into a store or meander around a community park without spotting lovebirds displaying their affections for each other in manners that are far too personal for the public eye.

Holding hands and little kisses followed by long hugs are expected of couples, even among the high school communities, and I have no problem with seeing happy couples together. But lately, many couples have taken it to the level where it becomes a tournament of raging tonsil hockey matches of multiple games.

These people make it very difficult for everyone to enjoy a day out with the family when they are forcing you to stare at “loving” actions. If you don’t want to see it, don’t look, right? Wrong. I’m sorry, but your face sucking is the furthest thing from obscure as I am attempting to stroll down the street with my family during the holiday season.

We get it. You like each other. You’re in love. And that’s great. But do you really think that the whole world wants to see the rubbing of butts and swapping of saliva? I just find it hard to go to the movies on the weekends with a group of my friends because all the couples use the presence of darkness in the theater to make it their own personal room. Um…there is still light coming off of the movie screen. Unfortunately, we can see you and hear your extremely audible make-out sessions.

Yeah, sure, you’re a cute couple. You hold hands, put your head on the this shoulder and give the occasional pecks on the lips, which is acceptable in public. But I beg you, please don’t start eating each other’s faces. That is what going out is for. Do everyone a favor and go out to eat at a restaurant and eat the food. That is what is meant for public eyes to see.

Oh, and don’t put your friends through it either! I mean, if they are already third-wheeling it to begin with then they should expect to witness some puppy love kisses, but for heaven’s sake, do not put them through PDA torture. As senior Amy Luong stated, “It can get really uncomfortable when you’re with your friends that are a couple. It usually ends up with you just standing there while they do their thing. It makes the situation awkward.”

Another Presentation student, who wishes to remain anonymous, described a specific incident where she was disgusted by her friends’ PDA. “I was at a friend’s house with a group of people, two of which are a couple. We all decided to watch a movie in the family room. I was sitting on the couch attempting to watch it because I had never seen it before. And throughout the entire movie the couple was being gross.

“I was sitting next to them, only inches away, and my friend was sitting on top of her boyfriend, making out. They were giggling and tickling each other and just constantly kissing. I couldn’t even hear the movie and everybody there was extremely uncomfortable. It was so disgusting and I didn’t even know what to do about it. All I know is that I don’t need to see that.”

Enough is enough with the over the top, inappropriate PDAs. Go ahead and go to the mall, walk around a park, or go to any other public places for a date with your boyfriend, but remember to keep it PG. There are children everywhere that do not need to be exposed to and shocked by your levels of intimacy. Keep calm, carry on, and if you can’t do that, then do as they say: get a room.

 

 

High School Sweethearts

We all dream of the perfect relationship: someone who will sweep us off our feet and tell us that we are flawless; someone who will take us on romantic dates and be there for us no matter what. Most us of us can agree that this love is not easily found, and for those of you who have found this relationship, congratulations- everyone is envious of you. Hopefully, we will all find our soul mates one day, but for now, we can read about two “aww”-inspiring relationships and imagine that we are one of these cute couples.

Claire Zirbes and Anthony Verducci

Dating for: two and a half yearsAnniversary: March 28

The Voice: When and where did you meet?

Claire: In the middle of eighth grade, I moved from Minnesota to California. Anthony was in the other eighth grade class, and we were friends at first.

The Voice: How old were you when you started dating?

 Claire: We started dating the summer before freshman year.

The Voice: How did he ask you out?

Claire: He never really did! We were really good friends, and one day, he told me that his mom asked about me. He told her that I was his girlfriend, then asked me if that was okay. I said yes!

The Voice: What do you like most about your relationship?

Claire: He is my best friend, and I can tell him everything. I am never lonely when he is around. When he comes over, we can just watch movies and make dinner for each other. I am the stay-at-home type, and he doesn’t mind.

The Voice: What is the best date you have been on?

Claire: One Valentine’s Day, he cooked me dinner and bought me flowers, and when he served me the dinner, it was on a plate that said “You are Special.” I thought that was really cute.

The Voice: Do you guys have any plans forValentine’s Day?

Claire: I am not sure yet! He will probably come over and cook dinner for me, and then we will go see a movie. We don’t really like to go out a lot.

The Voice: Where do you see your relationship going in the future?

Claire: I don’t know. I mainly want him to be around, even if it is just as a friend.

The Voice: Do your parents or other people express concern that you’re too young to be in such a long-term relationship?

Claire: No, never. My parents are happy for me, especially my mom. She is really supportive and she says that she is happy for me. My dad was really protective at first, and he still is a little, but not as much.

The Voice: Do you have advice for others on how to keep a long-term relationship?

Claire: I think it is very important to be really good friends before you date.

The Voice: What advice do you have about arguments and how to handle them?

Claire: Listen to the other person’s feelings and be patient. Talking it out is best.

The Voice: Do you have any additional comments to add?

Claire: It is very important to be honest with your significant other, and not be embarrassed to express your feelings. It is also important to be very accepting of physical appearance. Also, don’t look for love, because you will find someone when you least expect it.

Kathy O’Neill and Will Olson

Dating for: two years and two monthsAnniversary: Nov. 15

The Voice: When and where did you meet?

Kathy: We met sophomore year at a mixer.

The Voice: How old were you when you started dating?

Kathy: I wasn’t allowed to date until I was 16, so we officially started dating when I was 16, but we unofficially dated when I was 15.

The Voice: How did he ask you out?

Kathy: He never asked! It just happened. At a dance, someone asked how long we had been dating, and he told them two months. He never asked the question.

The Voice: What do you like most about your relationship?

Kathy: I always have someone to talk to, and I know that I can always count on him.

The Voice: What is the best date you have been on?

Kathy: We always hike Mountain Peak on my birthday. He does a lot of incredible things. Once, I was having an unbelievably horrible day, and I realized I was late for babysitting. The house where I was babysitting was close to his house and he knew where it was. I went to the car to get something later that night and there were chocolates, a bouquet of roses and a note sitting on my car from him.

The Voice: Do you have any Valentine’s plans?

Kathy: We don’t have any plans yet. The Bellarmine dance is on the 11. We will probably go to dinner and hang out somewhere.

The Voice: Where do you see your relationship going in the future?

Kathy: I am not sure. I would always love to be friends with him.

The Voice: Do your parents or other people express concern that you’re too young to be in such a long-term relationship?

Kathy: No, they know I am happy, and that I am independent enough to control my relationship.

The Voice: Do you have advice for others on how to keep a long-term relationship?

Kathy: Find the right person, talk a lot and be willing to talk about anything.

The Voice: What advice do you have about arguments and how to handle them?

Kathy: Never hold a grudge and be willing to talk about the problem and compromise.

The Voice: Do you have any additional comments to add?

Kathy: Don’t get too attached. When you go to college don’t get stuck on being together forever. If it is meant to happen, it will.

I Love My Mama

Mothers. What would we do without them? Sure, they make us eat our vegetables, and they ground us when we stay out past curfew. And there are those weeks when they get on our nerves for no reason. But think about this: how many other people do we know that will love us unconditionally for our whole lives? Probably not many. So now, in honor of Mother’s Day, your fellow Pres girls are going to share just a few of the things that make their moms awesome.

Sara Etchison, Senior: My first memory of my mother is  when I was sitting on top of the table and I’d just spilled Frosted Flakes all over the place, and she just sat there staring at me, and then she just smiled.

Lauren Jean-Rice, senior: She’s my best friend and she always supports me in everything, and I know that I will keep her unconditional love and she’s always my biggest advocate.

Leslie Grant, senior: We always watch TV shows together. We’ll have our nightly TV shows. It’s my whole family, but me and my mom especially watch Glee together, and we also watch Bones. And afterwards we always talk about it and it’s really intense.

Amanda Uyesugi, junior: We love to go to San Francisco and go see the plays and theatres there.

Mary Morgan, junior: My mommy’s really, really awesome because when we go shopping together she buys me expensive clothes because we can share them because we’re the same size.

Aislinn Everett, junior: Me and my mom bond over medical shows, and it’s really awesome.

Michelle Yee, Junior: Whenever I need to stay up late, my mom always stays up with me.

Annie Vu, junior: One year for Mothers’ Day my sister and I decided to give my mom a scented candle and we spent hours and hours at JC Penney’s smelling scented candles and then we decided on vanilla.

Ashley Lowenstein, sophomore: She’s always there for me, and she is such an amazing person.

Elizabeth Nguyen, sophomore: My mother is the best person on earth. She has all her eccentricities, but I love her all the same. She is always there whenever I need her, like if I forgot my lunch, then she’ll drive all the way to school to bring it to me.

Julia Gallo, freshman: My mom’s really supportive and I like to go shopping with her sometimes and go out and have mom-daughter days.

Kendall Wilkerson, freshman: My mom likes to randomly sing and burst into song.

Isha Salian, freshman: Every time my mom and I start talking, three hours will go by and we won’t even realize it.

Movie Review: Dear John

What could be more romantic than a long-distance relationship in a young girls’ eyes? The answer is nothing, unless that long distance is caused by war.

In Dear John, John Tyree (Channing Tatum), a Special Forces Army sergeant, is on his two-week leave from his station in Germany. John has a hard time understanding his father, who rarely talks at all and spends a lot of his time collecting and observing coins. While his father is at home collecting coins, John goes to the beach and surfs. One day while John is about to head home, a beautiful college student drops her purse into the ocean from the deck.  John jumps into the water to retrieve it. She greets him at the edge of the water where the dry sand and water meet. He does not quite understand what caused him to jump into the ocean after a purse of somebody he never met and later realizes that this action was, conveniently, caused by love.

She introduces herself as Savannah Curtis (Mamma Mia’s Amanda Seyfried), a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who is there on spring break to help build a house for Habitat for Humanity. She invites John to have a drink with her and her fellow workers. As is to be expected in a Nicholas Sparks story, two weeks is all it takes for John Tyree and Savannah Curtis to fall in love with each other.

At the end of two weeks, Savannah must return to college and John is sent back to his station in Germany. They promise each other that they will write to each other over the next 12 months, until John can leave the army. Time seems like eternity as Savannah and John count down the days until he returns. But then 9/11 happens, and  Savannah starts wondering how long this romance can last after John decides to reenlist. Their love is put to the ultimate test as they struggle to maintain the strong relationship that they had. Yes, the relationship they had during the two weeks that they were on vacation.

Because the novel is an epistolary, the director and producers had the actors read the letters in voice over. This aspect of the film was done well and gave them the opportunity to focus on the actor’s facial reactions as they read the letters.

Viewers, before you go and see this movie, do not set your bars too high. If you are going into the theater with the mindset that this film will be as good as The Notebook, prepare to be disappointed.

Tatum is physically well equipped for the role of John Tyree, but psychologically does not portray enough emotion for his character. Seyfried does a good job emphasizing the emotion of the relationship as she struggles to go through each day wondering if John safely lived through each day. The two actors don’t have the strongest onscreen chemistry, but it occasionally sparks.

Some of the most serious scenes were perceived by the audience as being hilarious. For instance, when John is distressed after visiting Savannah, he cries as he drives home and hits the steering wheel, causing the windshield wipers to turn on. This scene was supposed to reflect the love the two characters still had for each other after all these years, not to make the audience laugh.

Viewers will have to be the ultimate critics of how well the movie went. If you have read the book, then you will be let down by the quickness, intimacy and strength of the characters’ relationship. There were some vital changes made to the script such as Alan, who is Tim’s autistic brother in the novel, but is played by a four year old and plays Tim’s son. The character description of Savannah is not accurate either. In the novel, Savannah is a brunette and has a little gap in between her teeth whereas in the movie, Savannah has wavy blonde hair with a perfect set of white teeth.  

If you have not read the book then you may be a little disappointed at the beginning, but will soon find yourself laughing and drenched in tears.

On opening weekend, Dear John drew $31.5 million kicking Avatar out of the top spot after seven consecutive weeks.

Have a Good Read This Christmas Eve

This novel is a bit on the lengthy side, but it takes no time at all to plow through. It’s easy to get into, and will have you hooked by the first couple of pages. The gripping storyline includes love, betrayal, death, and, best of all, drama!

Not much for the Middle-Aged melodramas? Not to worry. Perhaps a more adventurous love story would strike your fancy. Give Annette Curtis Klause’s Blood and Chocolate a try. This is basically the exact opposite of Twilight, only strikingly similar at the same time. Instead of a male vampire falling in love with a useless mortal, Blood and Chocolate tells the story of a mysterious young werewolf who falls in love with a human boy intended to be her lunch. The two fall madly in love and face many challenges as their two worlds collide in an epic adventure. But take caution in opening up this work in the midst of finals week: you simply will not be able to put it down!

If you’d rather depart from the romance genre altogether, then Adriana Trigiani’s newest coming of age novel Viola will deliver the perfect dose of teenage angst, while at the same providing encouraging insights into the world of friendship and growing up. Shipped away from her beloved hometown of Brooklyn to a glum boarding school in the outskirts of an Indiana town, Viola is faced with a whole new world that she feels completely ill-equipped to handle. A talented film-maker, she gradually learns to stop seeing and living life through her screen and open herself up to the new experiences and friendships that await her.

If you find yourself in the mood for some classical delight, but cannot face diving into something quite as hefty as War and Peace, go for The Princess Bride. If you have seen the movie, then you know how entertaining the plot twists and character developments are. And Christmastime is always a little more enjoyable with a bit of Buttercup romance in the air. Another, perhaps heavier, romance is the newly-turned-motion-picture The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. This novel could certainly be considered more of a drama than William Goldman’s The Princess Bride, as it deals with the lessons of love and loss that a young couple encounters during their somewhat fated journey. A box of tissues might be a good idea if you pick this one up.

For more of a science fiction thriller, give Inkheart a go. The popular first installment of the planned Inkworld Trilogy, takes the reader through the many adventures of twelve-year-old Meggie Folchart, whose father possesses a special power of turning stories he reads aloud into real life. Lucky Meggie gets to travel to exotic places she reads about in books, such as Italy and many parts of Europe. If you ever were a fan of the animated film The Page Master as a little kid, this is the book for you. Another novel with a similar feel, C.S. Lewis’s famous children’s adventure tale The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, takes the reader through the closet of four young orphans, and into a magical world caught in eternal winter. It becomes the mission of this brave lot to bring the world of Narnia back to its original enchanting existence.

Some historical fiction might be the way to go if you don’t feel up to the time travelling and mythical creatures. Ann Rinaldi’s Time Enough for Drums is the story of 13-year-old Jemima Emerson living in Revolutionary War America. She finds herself torn between just about every member of her family, each of whom seems to be supporting a different war party: Patriots, Whigs, British officer, militiaman, and Continental Army soldier. This is a good read for those suffering the typical holiday season family squabbles that are typical of the holiday season.

Several decades after Jemima, comes Old Derry, the chubby old man in Edward Lear’s A Book of Nonsense. This charming collection of children’s tales is actually a compilation of limerick’s published sequentially in early nineteenth century England. Do not let the “children’s tales” turn you away, because each of Lear’s snappy poems is packed with clever twists and allusions that a wide range of age groups can appreciate.

So, now that you have a good list of choices for some great holiday reads, hit up your local bookstore – or Christmas wish list – and wipe your brain clean of any finals residue. Happy holidays!