Pattisall’s father played professional volleyball in the military around the world in places like Japan and Venice, Italy from age 19 into his twenties. When her father started playing games in the United States, she was able to watch.

Pattisall was surrounded by volleyball throughout her life. Due to her father’s love, enthusiasm, and involvement in the sport, Pattisall grew to love it as well.  “He even used to host a tournament every year in our back yard,” Pattisall said.

Now Pattisall is just as in love with the game as her father. Pattisall is on the women’s JV volleyball team and plays for Upper Chesapeake Volleyball Club. Her father coaches both the JC volleyball team and her club team. “I started playing on a team freshman year, but I would always play with him when I was younger,” Pattisall said.

“We have definitely grown closer because we get to spend a lot of time together since he coaches both my school and club teams,” Pattisall said.

Pattisall prefers the JC volleyball team as opposed to the Upper Chesapeake Volleyball Club. She is able to bond with her teammates outside of volleyball. “The other girls on my team have become close friends. It’s a great feeling know we can all depend on each other and succeed together as a team,” Pattisall said.

Pattisall intends to continue playing volleyball throughout her college career. “Since I’m planning on going to college on the west coast it would be nearly impossible to not play volleyball in college because it’s such a big sport there,” Pattisall said.

“I have a strong friendship with the girls on my team and you can really look to the older and more experienced girls for help,” Pattisall said.

Ashley Beyer is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

“Something about the fact that we could take this piece of paper and use our minds to create an entirely new world on it fascinated me,” Greig said.

The class, offered for students in first through fifth grade, was one of Greig’s favorite classes in elementary school. “I remember a few times my teacher would catch me working on my project in a different class, because I would be so excited to start,” Greig said.

Another thing that keeps Greig’s writing skills up every year is NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. In the month of November, participants are challenged to write a 50,000 word novel, which roughly translates to 1,667 words a day.

Greig has been participating for the past four years, and although she has never reached the word count goal, she loves coming back and
trying harder every year. “It challenges you to do more work than you think that you can do,” Greig said.

The highest Greig has ever reached is 40,000 words, only 10,000 words away from the goal. “I felt very proud, but I was also disappointed that I couldn’t make it to the last 10,000 words. It’s a motivation for me now, though. I just think to myself, ‘If I could get to 40 thousand when I was only 13, I should be able to get 50,000 by now,’” Greig said.

For Greig, participating in NaNoWriMo is a way to track her progress as a writer. “I like looking back at the end of the month and seeing how far I’ve gotten,” Greig said.

Greig plans on participating in NaNoWriMo for years to come. “I’d like to think that I’ll just keep doing NaNo[WriMo] and never stop. Maybe I’ll have a year or two where I can’t do it so I have to take a break, but it’s one of those things that I just see myself doing well into my adult life,”
Greig said.

Ashley Beyer is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

“I decided to play guitar for the elderly and disabled because I want to spread my love of music and bring joy to other people,” Macdonald said. She also invited junior Thomas Gardner to get involved with her senior project.

“He’s just a good singer, and I think together we can provide the elderly and disabled with a good show,” Macdonald said.

Macdonald not only wants to brighten other people’s days with her own music, but  also to inspire and teach others how to play her favorite instrument, the guitar. “Some of the biggest influences in my life have been guitar teachers. I’ve also had to teach the underclassmen in band about percussion and I genuinely like teaching,” Macdonald said.

Macdonald has been playing guitar for eight years. She got her first electric guitar for her ninth birthday but previously played an old acoustic guitar that her father owned. “I was always a music nerd since as long as I can remember. I would just sit around and listen to his [her dad’s] old records all day when I was kid,” Macdonald said.

The bass guitar, the drum set, the mandolin, banjitar, and ukulele are a few other instruments Macdonald can play. “I also dabble very lightly in piano. It sounds like a lot, but they’re all related and once you play one, you have the others in the bag,” Macdonald said.

Macdonald has performed in seven different pit orchestras with theater groups like Children’s Playhouse of Maryland and Cockpit in Court at the Community College of Baltimore County, Tidewater Players in Havre de Grace, and Vagabond Players in Fells Point.

Macdonald has played the guitar in the JC pits for “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Suessical the Musical,” “Peter Pan,” and “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.” She also plans to be in the pit for “Cinderella” this upcoming spring.

Even though Macdonald seems to have easily mastered multiple musical aspects, she has faced some challenges over the years in learning how to read bass clef and pit music, saying that, “it’s completely different than reading jazz or classical music.” But she is “confident it will all pay off one day.”

Sarah Kearby is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

Eisenhuth decided to try out for the women’s volleyball team. When Eisenhuth made the JV volleyball team, she trained and played with her teammates that “became like a family” for two months.

“We care for each other and we always help each other out, whether it has to do with school or not. We always had a great time and we were really like a huge family,” Eisenhuth said.

She also tried out for Upper Chesapeake Volleyball Club, UCVC, where many of the JC volleyball players participate after the fall season at JC is over.

Eisenhuth worked tirelessly for her first match of the year. “The first match is a little nerve-racking, but you get used to it, and the rush of happiness you get when you are in the game is amazing. I love it,” Eisenhuth said.

Though it was challenging at first, Eisenhuth was persistent. “After the first game, you pretty much know what to expect and the only thing that you have to do is do your best every second you are on the court,” Eisenbuth said.

The practices were challenging and somewhat time-consuming, with practice after school every day for two hours, but Eisenhuth still enjoyed every second of it. “We have a lot of fun because we had such an amazing coach and everyone loves each other on the team, so we always looked forward to practice,” Eisenhuth said.

Eisenhuth could not be happier with her decision to join the women’s JV volleyball team with its positive people and environment.

“We had a team that was made of so many great girls. They were so fun to be around and really welcoming, which is nice considering I am a freshman,” Eisenhuth said.

Ashley Beyer is a Lifestyles Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.

As a young girl, Williamson went on a sailing trip with her family that turned brutal.

“When I was very little we were all sailing and then came a big storm.  All of a sudden we all had to go down to the cabin underneath and stay there. The boat started to shake and I was worried.  My dad and my mom were still on deck, and when the boat started to tip, my mom fell off the boat. Luckily she had her life jacket still on,” Williamson said.

Williamson’s dad pulled her mom back into the boat, but her mom was left with bruises on both legs.

Not all of Williamson’s sailing experiences were quite as exciting, but it was memorable nonetheless.  Despite this traumatic event, Williamson has continued occasionally to go out to sea with her family, especially her father.

Williamson has expressed interest in JC’s new addition of a sailing team. JC’s new sailing team, isn’t the only extracurricular activity Williamson shows interest in. Williamson has been on set crew for two years, and plans to continue with it this year.

Being on the set crew means attending every play practice where she has to build, paint, and change sets.

“We do everything for the background for the plays,” Williamson said. She admits that set crew is no easy job and that it requires a lot of dedication. Williamson participated inset crew in 2009 for the fall play “Beauty and the Beast,” as well as the fall 2010 play Peter Pan,” and the spring 2011 play “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

“I love artsy stuff, like painting. I just got in the mood for it [doing set crew],” Williamson said.

Williamson has made many friends through set crew and socializes with the cast members regularly. Williamson revealed that behind the scenes can be just as lively as on stage. “Before the show we’d have little dance parties,” she said.

 Emily Clarke is a Managing Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com

Macdonald started playing guitar when she was eight years old. She fractured her leg before summer began and her parents bought her a guitar to keep her occupied. Macdonald played her guitar “all the time” that summer and has rarely put it down since.

Russell started playing the clarinet when he was nine because he “thought it would be cool to play an instrument.”

Now, Macdonald plays the guitar, bass, mandolin and “pretty much any other type of modern string instrument.” Russell plays the bassoon, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, horn, mellophone, and xylophone. However, he focuses mostly on the harmonica, ukulele, and piano, and is currently learning to play bass.

“Between the two of us we play, like, every instrument,” Russell said.

Russell and Macdonald are occasionally accompanied by senior percussionist Patrick St. Clair, though he only joins the group when needed.

“He is our only percussionist,” Russell said. St. Clair is “already planning on going to college and going onto a career with [music].” Some possibilities include teaching music or starting his own band “like the Jonas Brothers.” For now, the band is only consistently made up of Russell and Macdonald.

The duo is currently working on creating a YouTube channel for their covers and original songs. They are also looking to perform outside of school because they’ve only performed at JC events and at friends’ parties so far.

Russell estimates that the pair performs covers about 50 percent of the time with the other 50 percent dedicated to their own compositions.

According to Russell, he and Macdonald work as a team in the composition process. “What usually happens is one of us will write a chord progression or melody and show it to each other and say, ‘Oh, you know, this would be good with that’ and ‘Maybe add something here,’” Russell said. “But in general, she does more chords and I do a lot of lyrics.”

“We have a good list of [serious songs], but we started out writing joke songs,” Macdonald said. “Sometimes we write joke songs about people we don’t like, or just catchy songs that are offensive for the sake of being offensive.”

“Anyway, we’ve been getting more serious lately,” Macdonald said. “I write music because it’s pretty much second nature to me because I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember. Most of my childhood was listening to music, playing and writing it.”

In addition to a YouTube channel, the duo plans on making a CD, and they hope to make one for Christmas that would include both classic carols and their own compositions.

Macdonald and Russell are also using YouTube to make a video for the Bushman World Ukulele Video Contest. The contest begins in November and runs through December. Winners will be posted online and prizes will be awarded on Monday January 15, 2011, according to BushmanMusic.com.

Russell doubts that the contest would bring him and Macdonald much publicity, saying they are only entering the contest for the competition and the prize of 1,000 dollars of credit in a Bushman Music Works account. However, the Bushman website boasts that all competitors should expect to get recognition whether they want it or not.

The publicity would help Russell and Macdonald to continue their music careers after high school. However, if pursuing a career in music doesn’t work out, Russell plans to study communications, political science, or linguistics, and Macdonald thinks she would want to study either history or political science.

As for now, though, Russell said the two are just having fun playing “music for the sake of music.”

Mollyann Pais can be reached for comment at mpais@jcpatriot.com.

Senior Travis Scampton rolled into JC at 5:30 A.M. Even on the desolate morning roads, his drive from Jarrettsville had taken 30 minutes longer than usual, but that’s just part of commuting by tractor.

Scampton made his mark on this year’s spirit week celebrations by bringing his John Deere tractor to school and celebrating class color day in a classic Harford County fashion. “The tractor was green. The senior [class color] was green. It worked out,” Scampton said.

Scampton surprised the entire student body with his school spirit. Senior Jess Crawford said, “I was so amazed to see that anyone would bring a tractor to school. He had to have gotten up early that morning to get it to school on time.”

But getting up early isn’t any trouble for Scampton. This spring, his days have been starting at 2:00 AM when he wakes up to begin planting corn on his family farm. “It’s got to get done,” Scampton said.

While his friends worry about choosing careers, Scampton has his career planned out, and in many ways he has already begun his work. Growing up on a farm has inspired him to continue to farm right here in Harford County. Scampton also hopes to one day take over his family farm.

According to Scampton, farming just came as a natural career choice. “Farming: it’s what I do,” he said.

Scampton has enrolled at Harford Community College for the fall. There, he plans to study Agribusiness for two years. The flexible college program at HCC will allow Scampton to finish his school day by 10:00 in the morning so that he can spend the rest of the day working on the farm.

Joey Hoff can be reached for comment at jhoff@jcpatriot.com.

The Jonas Brothers met her. The Wiggles sang for her. Muhammad Ali kissed her. It has to be junior Sydney Comitz.

“My dad has always gotten us involved in different activities because he wants us to have a well-rounded point of view,” Comitz said.

One of those unique experiences is her yearly attendance at the White House Easter Egg Roll. The event is a culmination of activities and performances for young people, organized by the First Lady.

Under the Bush administration, the Comitz family had to camp outside of the White House in the snow and sleet to get tickets.

When the Obamas moved into the White House, tickets to the event were no longer based on a first-come, first-serve basis. Last year, the tickets were randomly given out online, which made it harder for Comitz to get into the event.

However, Comitz was able to attend as a volunteer last year. While there, she met the Jonas Brothers, Jack Hannah, Buzz Aldron, Aly and AJ, the Wiggles, and Hannah Montana.

But Comitz’s celebrity encounters are not limited to the White House Easter Egg Roll. At five years old, she met Muhammad Ali while at a Kentucky convention.

Upon discovering that the line to meet Ali was out the doors of the convention, Comitz’s father took her to the back of the convention center to get closer to the boxer.

“I was an outgoing kid, so I just butted in front of some guy in line [when we got inside],” Comitz said. That man she cut in front of happened to be a Kentucky senator.

Then, Comitz walked up to Ali, and he reached out to her, giving her a hug and kiss. The scene was a perfect shot for the group of reporters and photographers surrounding Ali.

“The senator thought that [my father and I] were personal friends of Ali. He thought I was famous.” Comitz said.

Comitz admits that her life is full of a wide variety of experiences. She said, “You never know if you don’t try. You could end up meeting someone famous.”

Joey Hoff can be reached for comment at jhoff@jcpatriot.com.

Junior Ashley Markley’s life couldn’t have been scripted.

As the daughter of parents in the military and the girlfriend of a young man in the Air Force, Markley has seen the dramatic effects of military life.

Markley compares her life to the character Savannah in the movie “Dear John.” For months, she has written letters to her boyfriend Jordan Purcell in the Air Force.

Markley met her boyfriend through her older sister April, but his military training has driven them apart. On March 10, she is flying to Texas for his graduation from basic training. However, after that meeting, she won’t be able to see him again until May.

Markley’s family life has the same degree of drama. While in the military, Markley’s mother, Tammy, was kidnapped and taken hostage in Panama. Her mother was accused of “betrayal” by the Panamanian government. The conditions were “horrible,” said Markley. Her mother was stuck in a humid jail cell with only enough food to survive.

Markley’s mother was blindfolded and videotaped, as proof of her survival, and the hostage video of her was later shown on Fox News. After six days in a jail cell, Markley’s mother was finally released.

At JC, Markley’s life is a bit more subdued. She’s active in the school plays and has had speaking roles in “Beauty and the Beast” and this weekend’s “Seussical: the Musical.”

“My story is definitely different, but my entire life is all about optimism,” said Markley.

Taylor Schafer and Joey Hoff can be reached for comment at tschafer@jcpatriot.org and jhoff@jcpatriot.org.