The school buzzes with excitement as students prepare for the Boys vs. Girls rally. Of this crowd, one individual migrates around the gym, taping the rivalry between genders. Holding up his professional Canon T3i, Jeremy Giampaoli (12) hits ‘record’ to capture the youth of West High.

  Rewinding back to his entire high school experience, he participated in three sports: three years as a varsity captain and high scorer in Water Polo, three years of soccer, and four years of volleyball. Even with the endless academic workload, Giampaoli obviously pulled through to his senior year without catching a case of senioritis, but admitted, “It’s always hard trying to balance sports, extracurriculars, and homework. However, I’ve been in sports all my life so it’s pretty normal to me even though it takes up most of my time. I have to work quickly on my homework after sports or I’m practically screwed.” Oh, extracurriculars? He does that, too?

  In fact, besides his ASB position as Secretary of Production, Giampaoli is President of Snowboard and Ski Club and a board member for Livingstone Christian Club. Yet he has maintained a 4.6 GPA for the last two years. He commented, “The clubs I’m involved in are the things I’m interested in so I enjoy the work that comes with them.” For the underclassmen, Giampaoli offers small advice: “Just try to get involved in anything and everything that interests you. You’ll be able to meet new people and have fun as long as you can keep up. Don’t be afraid to take chances.” Speaking of having fun and taking chances, Giampaoli definitely took a risk by owning two pet snakes: a kingsnake and a ball python. In addition, he competitively plays ultimate frisbee almost every weekend and is proud to still own a flip phone amidst everyone’s 21st century smartphones.

  Evidently, Giampaoli had kept a consistent, positive ambience from the beginning. From the moment he pressed play his freshman year, Giampaoli went from winning West’s first water polo game ever to defeating PV in volleyball— a big deal considering that PV was nationally ranked last year. Although he often reminisces about his past victories, Giampaoli will not fast forward, but simply play at normal speed and prepare for his future plans while enjoying the present moment.