Our Time 1998

T A 7 \ 64 ( SenixMSs I n August of 1995, two hundred thirty-four membe rs of the new class of 1998 descended upon the campus of the Illinois Math ematics and Science Academy from the four corners of the state. The class of 1998 had one wish: to live, work, play, and grow with each other in an educational community bordered by suburbs, a cornfield, and a strip mall. We shared one goal, a goal that had been shared by nine other classes before them: to survive — together. The Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, however, wa sn 't for everyone. Sometimes students, still young people search– ing for their true identity, couldn't handle the extra stressors that IMSA applies to three of the most delicate years in a teenager's life. "The IMSA experience isn't for everyone," was heard from the mouths of more than one senior when they try to explain the loss of their friends. Young men and women have left the Academy for a variety of reasons. Some students decide that they will miss their home lives too much. They never even move in to their rooms. Some students try out the Academy, like a young bird will try out his/her new wings, and find that they just can't fly here. Those students leave soon after they arrive. Still others run up against a brick wall sometime during their three-year IMSA journey that they just can't break through, no matter how hard they try. But there are some students, a lucky few, who get the opportunity to move on to a better place, a new experience, for a while and decide to take it. Membe rs of the class of 1998 have left for all of these reasons and more. However, just because they leave doesn't mean we lose track of them. IMSA friendships are those forged of steel by fire and cooled by ice: the kind that last until the day we die. Justin Bledsoe, who left sophomore year, is currently attending Bogan High School in Chicago, where he plays basketball and plans on attending Jackson State University in Mississippi next year. Narahari Phatak took his senior year off from from IMSA to study abroad in Hong Kong will graduate with the class of 1999. Barrington Gates attends St. Louis University High School in East St. Louis, and he plans on attending Carleton College of Wisconsin next year, where he will be joined by several IMSA graduates. The infamous Jon Harwell and Mike Fonte, who left the Ac ademy on dishonorable grounds, both ended up doing quite well. Jon Harwell is enrolled in a junior college in the Patoka area, is currently in the Marines, and plans on attending the University of Michigan at Ann- Arbor in the fall. Mike Fonte graduated from Mi nooka High School, where he spent his senior year as the elected Student Coun– cil president. Rebecca Burnett, who left not only IMSA but also the state of Illinois at the end of sophomore year, now resides in North Carolina with her father. And, sadly, we will all cherish the memo– ries we have of Elizabeth Sawczuk, who died on April 19, 1997 in a tragic car accident. For the little time we knew her, she brought j oy to many of our lives. The Class of 1998 wishes our fellow students-in-heart good wishes for the future! J u s t i n B l C a s t r o K e W i l l i a m B a r r i n g t c K a v a n a g I M e l i s s a ] E d w i n ] E l i z a b e t h