BY Austin Hill
LifeAtStart.com Reporter

The season felt like it should have ended after the first game. We trained for months with the team Eastwood in the back of our heads, and after pulling the rare opening victory, the season felt complete with our goals accomplished. Even early in the year, many were longing for the season to come to a conclusion, as that sense of fulfillment was enough to satisfy us for the year.

However, this mindset seemed to change coming into the last game. The pregame rituals of senior night made it come to full realization how special this season was, and going into the following game, I just hoped that the season would never end. I would endure another four or five weeks of exhausting practices if it meant living out this part of my life just a little longer. My desire for free time that I felt earlier in the season had vanquished, and I wanted nothing more that to sacrifice just a little more.

The Friday night before the game, the team had a sort of get together. After the usual walkthrough, we sat down for dinner and then watched a movie that Mr. Edward Perozek felt he needed to share with us. It was one of the corniest movies I’ve ever seen, so most of the team abandoned. However, jokes were flying between the few remaining, and this little moment affirmed to me how much I would miss this. We just had to win this next game to preserve it a little longer.

We strolled in Saturday morning with determination. We were met with a fiery speech from a coach that made us feel like we were invincible, and more importantly indivisible. We ate again, boarded the buses, and left for Westerville in high spirits.

And that spirit not once left us until it was dispersed all at once when the clock revealed triple zeros. The game got out of hand quite fast, but even as we walked back to the locker room down by 27, we had all the optimism in the world, as it had been repeated numerously that “we’ve been here before.” As we walked back the field, someone yelled from the stands “you guys suck!”, and it took me all my might not to point at that kid and say “watch this.”

And I know in the middle of the fourth quarter that stupid kid was watching nervously. After a favorable string of events, we were 12 points from making this one of the most miraculous games ever, one that you would see in a movie and think “that would never happen.” The momentum was leaning in our favor like it was a tree caught in a hurricane, but our storming comeback fell just short.

Even though we were faced with the fact that this wouldn’t be a miracle, we never lost hope until the final whistle blew. I remember at one point, being down by three scores with scarce time left, one of the side coaches told a senior that it was a great season, to which he took offence to as the game wasn’t even over. Such a demonstration showed how much we clung to this magical season, as we all knew one day in the future we would give anything to be back in this moment.

The scene after the game was like that of a funeral. It quickly faded though, and the ride back home was one of relief, assured that we had done something very few will ever be able to speak of in their lives. Afterall, we were the underdogs all year.

What’s it like working at Chick-fil-A? It’s a question I am asked frequently. I usually just say that I enjoy it or I tell them it’s a fun job just so I can skip this question and continue with the rest of the conversation. But there’s a lot more to it.

Chick-fil-A isn’t an ordinary job for a teenager. There’s a lot about it that makes it different. Even though it’s my first job, I know I have it good. The people, the atmosphere, the food. Everything about it makes it such a delight to work there. And I assure you that anyone I work with does not read LifeAtStart.com This is merely my opinion.

The people I work with are what old people might call “a good group of kids.” Most of my coworkers are in college, but I get along great with them. We are always busy hanging out when we’re not working. Sundays are the best because no one is working. We hang out almost every Sunday at someone’s house, at a park playing sports, or at a restaurant. However, there are two friend groups at CFA: the front and the kitchen. The front group is composed of the goody goodies. This is the group I chose to associate with. The kitchen is what you might consider to be the rebel group. (Which is why they are in the kitchen.) They do various extra-curricular activities that the front is not particularly fond of.

The other great thing about Chick-fil-A is the atmosphere. It’s always so clean and fresh feeling thanks to the dining room guys, a team that I am proud to be a part of. We do our best to make sure that the dining room is always in good shape. The owner tells us that every time a guest sits down, it should look like they are the first person to sit at that table all day. Also, if you listen closely to the instrumental music being played, you will hear popular Christian songs. Being a Christian myself, I find this to be so cool in a day and age where people are afraid to be open about their religious beliefs.

The food at Chick-fil-A is like no other in the fast food genre. Actually, I should say quick service. CFA does not like to be classified as fast food. We don’t want to be put in a category with McDonald’s, Wendy’s, and Burger King. If you’ve ever eaten at Chick-fil-A, you know that the food tastes like something sent down from the gods. People often ask me if I get sick of eating the food since I work there. I tell them I’ve been working there for a year, and I still eat the food every day I work. It never gets old for me.

If you are looking for a fun, happy environment to work in, I recommend applying at Chick-fil-A. Our application process might be strict, but if you can make an impression on the management, you can be on our team. One of the greatest things about working at CFA is your teammates. They are always nice and will always have your back. It’s an awesome group of people who you know you can always run to and always share good times with.

BY Kaylah Kislan
LifeAtStart.com Reporter

A senior from Start was recently selected to represent our high school by creating and painting a design for a ceiling tile in a military recruiting office. Talya Warrick was instructed by principal, Mr. Edward Perozek, on October 9^th to pay a visit to her painting teacher, Mrs. Jennifer Lahey.  Mrs. Lahey decided Talya would be the perfect person to take on the task of representing our high school through her creative talents. I got an exclusive interview with Ms. Warrick recalling the experience.

When I asked her what went through her mind when she was asked, her response wasn’t surprising. “I was honored,” she said with a smile on her face. Talya has always taken pride in any of her artistic endeavors. She soon admitted she had been a bit surprised. “I don’t know how they chose me,” she confessed.

A lot of preparation and planning had to happen before Talya could submit her design idea. For one, there were guidelines and restrictions. She was instructed to make the design representative of our high school but to try to also incorporate the military. The first design she created was a rough draft, and she realized it wouldn’t take up enough space on the tile. She tells me, “When I noticed how small it was, I started working on a second, larger design. This one was the most favorable.”

In her finished creation, she chose to have the Spartan in a gold helmet. He wore green army pants that resembled one of our school colors. The background was somewhat gloomy. I asked her about her choice color scheme and too my surprise, it was all of convenience to her. “Green and gold are our school colors, so it just worked.”

Painting a ceiling tile is no easy task. Come to find out, it is a lot different than painting on paper. “It took me about three weeks to paint it because I wasn’t used to painting on ceiling tile,” She proclaimed.

Despite the initial difficulty, Ms. Warrick’s design is now in the military recruiting office and it has been entered in a competition. She has been in contact with the recruiting office and plans to create and paint another ceiling tile for one of the desks in the office. Talya’s experience was a great showcase of talent here at your very own Roy C.

BY Angelena Hymes
LifeAtStart.com Reporter

Winter is on its way and you know what that means, frozen windows and windshields. Lots of people run outside and start their car and let it sit so their windows will defrost. Many people also like to throw boiling water on their windows, but that only makes your windows crack. I’ve found a solution to your problem. All you need is a spray bottle and alcohol. Mix cold water with alcohol in your spray bottle and spray it on your windows. You could spray it before going to bed or in the morning either way it will dissolve frost upon contact. Hopefully this will help many people get rid of the frost on their car in a short amount of time.