In his speech, Del Puppo confessed that his original plan was to become a lawyer. However, after the loss of his father, he started to question his career choice.

“I wanted to make a difference. It hit me that the path I was on wouldn’t lead to anywhere good,” said Del Puppo.  After quitting law school, he attended Washington College where he received his Masters degree in History.

Most students who have had Del Puppo as a teacher will agree with junior Nick Frijia, who said, “He’s a great teacher and he does his best to make class not just educational but worthwhile.”

Even his fellow teachers sing his praises. “He’s not just teaching history, he’s making it,” history department chair Jacob Hollin said.

“He’s a shining example of what our department strives to be,” history teacher Jim Fendryk said.  

He has a passion for what he is teaching, which helps get students enthusiastic about learning history. “I love studying the past and understanding humanity better,” Del Puppo said.

One of his favorite aspects about teaching is holding in-class discussions. “I love seeing what they know and imparting what I know,” said Del Puppo.

He has been able to incorporate another passion into teaching, which is his love of outdoor activities. He loves hosting yearly camping trips for students.

One signature characteristic of Del Puppo is his confidence in his opinions and beliefs, and his assuredness earns him respect from his students. “He’s one of the most professional teachers I’ve had. It makes sense that he won because so many of my friends love him and respect him,” junior Susan Lubejko said.

Some people say goodbye before they’re ready, and some say goodbye far too late.  Some say goodbye just to come back later.  Goodbye becomes the common denominator of sports when all is said and done.

But this goodbye is different.  This goodbye is permanent.  I won’t be acting as Brett Favre on “The Patriot,” coming back in a year and writing for “Cry of the Hawk” or for “The Hall.” I’m done.  Looking back through all of the columns and stories I’ve written, I feel content.  There isn’t much more to ask out of life than that.  There’s no need to hang on to the past.  There’s no interception thrown in overtime to cost my team a shot at the Super Bowl (twice, no less) that I need to come back and avenge.

But, like nearly everything in life and sports, it’s bittersweet.  Bitter because it’s hard to let go of things.  Sweet because I get to go into the future, try new things, and meet new people.  There is not much more to ask for in life than those kinds of experiences.  There is no doubt that I’ll miss the people I’ve met and the relationships I’ve created, but at the same time, the future is bright and the opportunities are endless.  Great things completed in high school become a springboard for greater things to be done in college and the best things to be done in adulthood.  Peaking doesn’t come in high school.  It’s only the beginning.

I could fill the rest of this column with sentimental quotations from famous authors that lived a hundred years ago, but I feel like that would just dumb down what I’ve already said.

But if I have to leave with one quotation, it would come from Thomas Edison: “If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves.”

We all have capabilities that we don’t know we have.  Life is finding them out and being astonished at the fact we can use them.

So, as the class of 2010 disperses towards the future, think about it.  How can you astonish yourself?

Daniel Gallen can be reached for comment at dgallen@jcpatriot.com.

With unlimited time and very few priorities, it’s easy to get into a slump—sleeping until 1 in the afternoon, watching TV all day, getting on Facebook all night. So keep active, and occasionally force yourself out of bed in the morning to call your friends. Don’t get me wrong, take advantage of opportunities to sleep in and relax, but not so much so that you live in sweatpants and rarely leave your house. To avoid waking up with a day completely void of plans, try making plans in advance. It’s easy in the summer to forget how to do anything in an organized fashion, so most likely this will be tough. But for your own sake, take a little initiative, and don’t wait until you’re at home for the third day in a row to attempt to do something.

Step Two: Do Something Relatively Productive

This goes hand in hand with step one. Exercise. Work. Do something creative. Do anything to keep yourself feeling vaguely accomplished at the end of the summer. Set a goal for yourself, and try to accomplish it. This will keep you from feeling like you’ve wasted three months of your life doing absolutely nothing.

Step Three: Get a Job

Instead of making summer a time where your job is spending money, why not make some?  Let’s face it, you have unlimited time, but there’s not much to do in Bel Air without spending at least a little money. Get a job. This will  allow you to indulge in all that summer has to offer. Plus, you’ll feel productive.

Step Four: Relax and Smell the Roses

Take the time to put away all distractions, and just soak up what it means to be on summer vacation—no pressures, no school work, no classes. One day, in the real working world, we won’t have summers off. Let’s appreciate them while we can.

Step Five: Don’t Procrastinate (too much) on Summer Reading

If you’re a senior, then appreciate the first summer in a long time that you won’t have any summer work to do. If not, then try not to leave it until the last minute. Summer reading can loom over your head, and you’ll be surprised how relieved you’ll feel when you’ve made a little progress. Still, don’t finish all the reading in June—you won’t remember anything about the books in September.

Step Six: Go to the Beach at Least Once

The beach is the cliché summer vacation spot, and you’ll probably regret it if you don’t spend at least a little time there. Somehow, a summer is incomplete without beach time, and in order to have a well-rounded experience, you just have to go and enjoy the shore.

Charlotte Hagerman can be reached for comment at chagerman@jcpatriot.com.

In more blatant words, Watson is telling Puhl the one phrase that torments all athletes: don’t choke.    

According to Winning Edge Psychological Services, “Athletes describe choking in a number of ways: a complete loss of confidence, an inability to make their body move, an increase in anxiety/nervousness, loss of emotional control, and a tidal wave of doubt.”

Choking leaves the athlete feeling embarrassed, guilty, and that they have let their team and coach down. The combination of negative thoughts and emotions leads the athlete to lose confidence, decreases their motivation and even doubt their ability to compete.”

There are many factors that affect an athlete’s playing, and can cause him to “choke.” But the most important seem to be related to pressure and motivation. For Puhl, who has been on the wrestling and football team since his freshmen year, and is playing rugby this year, “I put the most pressure on myself.”

Out of 242 students surveyed, the most pressure came from themselves (8% felt significant pressure from themselves). The least significant pressure was from spectators (only 1% felt significant pressure), and moderate pressure came from teammates (11%) and the intensity of the game (11%). 

While on the varsity wrestling team, Puhl felt the most pressure. “You’re wrestling for yourself, trying to not let yourself down, make your own personal accomplishments,” Puhl said.

Puhl mentioned actually performing better from this added stress. In his chapter on “Athletic Functioning” in “Self-Efficacy: the Exercise of Control,” psychologist Alfred Bandura suggests that “coaches can effectively influence the development and maintenance of self-efficacy through focusing on what players can personally control, such as improvement, [and] providing more positive guidance [rather] than focusing on uncontrollable outcomes, such as winning.”

Coach Watson did just this to help Puhl perform his best. Out of all his coaches, Puhl noted Watson as having the best technique. 

Watson is a “hands-on coach that works with you,” and that really helped Puhl.  The best coaching technique senior football player Scott McIntyre has seen while on the team is “reinforcement.” Also, according to Puhl, the best coach is one who is ”fun, easy to get along with, and serious when he needs to be.”  

Although Watson had the best technique, the most influential coach for Puhl was his own father. ”He was my travel basketball coach in eighth grade. [He] helped support me through high school when I was had trouble, talked to me about sports and stuff, and gave me advice.”

A lot of motivation can come from teammates too. ”As a team, you’re trying to help them,” Puhl said. “I liked the team better- playing for the other guys instead of just myself.”

Puhl mentioned that the pressure he feels can come from the “seriousness of [the] game” and “intensity that we’re playing.” When his teammates ”really need people to step up, it makes me want to step up.”

For McIntyre, “the idea of being a champion” motivates him most. His coaches put the most pressure on him when they expect a certain level of seriousness and talk him up.

There is pressure involved in an athlete’s performance. But, for Puhl, ”When I know that I’m prepared, coaches have prepared me, and there is a relaxed environment around me, I do well.”

According to Coach Tim Perry, all teams need discipline to motivate. “Not military discipline,” said Perry, “Disciplining your mind then body to react to the situations that you see on the field.”

This discipline can come from “repetition” and “mental toughness,” which Perry says “transcends athletics” and goes “down into the fiber of the person and gives you strength.”

“A desire to win and perform at an acceptable level, a special feeling of accomplishment, and enjoyment” also motivate, Perry said.

Alex Bahr can be reached for comment at abahr@jcpatriot.com.

As kids, we grow up too fast. Kids today seem to be growing up way faster than before because society just doesn’t let kids be kids anymore. Parents are rushing kids into adulthood way too fast.

Take for example those freakish little pageants that parents put their kids in. You know the ones that have three-year-olds in swimsuit competitions. The parents put their kids in the competitions anyway because they help to “build confidence.”Like I haven’t heard that before.

Parents use that same excuse to put their kids into sports at young ages. I don’t have a huge problem with this, but when the parents get way too into it and are screaming curse words from the crowd, I feel like saying, “Come on, Dad, it’s just tee-ball.” And by the way, sports only build confidence if your kid is actually good at them.

Another example is technology. Kids are picking up on this stuff too fast. I didn’t get a cell phone until I was in 7^th grade. Now I see kids all the time that are four or five with cell phones. I mean you’re four. You don’t even have friends yet. Your contacts can only consist of Mom, Dad, and Grandpa.

In the past, Saturday morning was the one place where a kid could be a kid. However, now every cartoon is loaded with these stupid drug Public Service Announcements that are meant to scare kids into never doing drugs. I remember watching these as a kid and just being more confused about drugs and thinking, “Maybe if I do some drugs I’ll understand this commercial.”  But thank God those commercials were on. Now, no one does drugs. Thanks, D.A.R.E.

When you’re a little kid, you don’t care about drugs.  You don’t even know what drugs are. Maybe if we didn’t throw these scare tactics into young kids’ faces, they wouldn’t do drugs.  It’s not like these commercials work.  When are you ever at a party where people say no to alcohol or drugs because they saw a commercial when they were six?

Kids need time to be kids. If we keep making kids grow up too fast, then we’ll see little kids own businesses and have jobs instead of just having fun and being kids.

Ryan Lina can be reached for comment at rlina@jcpatriot.com.

The Week in Pictures Gallery gives a look into student life here at JC.

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TV has gotten so bad that we find ourselves watching shows such as “The Hills.”

“The Hills” used to be a show about a girl trying to make her way in the fashion world. However, the show soon transformed into a TV show centered on the drama between Heidi and Spencer Pratt (more commonly known as Speidi).  Every week, there is always mention of some ridiculous thing that they’ve been doing.

Last week, Spencer was yelling at Holly, Heidi’s sister, telling her that she was not welcome at their house if she felt the need to defend her mother, Darlene.

Let’s be real. Of course Holly wants to protect her mother who was always there for her and one of the most important people in her life.

Spencer is trying to do his part as a husband and protect Heidi from what Darlene said. The people watching this show are in agreement with Darlene because she is making Speidi come out of their fantasy world for those few seconds.

And at the end of every episode, we can find Spencer losing his temper with someone and seeing Heidi looking sad and pathetic.

Another issue is Heidi’s most recent plastic surgery. When you start looking like plastic, usually you stop having those kinds of surgeries.  You were prettier before, and now you can never go back.

The premiere of the Final Season of “The Hills” brings with it an attack on Kristen. The group goes to Miami for the Super Bowl and Kristen stays out every night until 5 a.m. Of course, this automatically means that Kristen is doing drugs and they have to confront her. But, I have to wonder why they ask her so discreetly? Furthermore, why do they not even care about her lack of answer?

Kristen merely shrugs it off and turns it on them for being such bad friends for accusing her of something she is obviously not doing. Great skills Kristen, confuse them out of really caring.

This show is pathetic for everything that it talks about. It makes appearance, ratings, and stupid drama more important than morals, personality, and character traits.

Gabby Joseph can be reached for comment at gjoseph@jcpatriot.com