Campus Security vlog from CatlinSpeak on Vimeo.

One of the Beginning School’s greatest traditions is Friday Sing, where every Friday, family members come to sing with the preschoolers and kindergarteners. The songs have remained the same for decades, so at every Lifers ceremony, Upper School students are able to sing along with the Beginning School students, because they remember singing those same songs when they were young. Another Beginning School traditional event is the Mini Olympics. Beginning School students become mini Olympians for the day and participate in events ranging from water balloon tossing to races with several outfit changes.

First Graders perform the Maypole dance at spring festival. (Photo: Karen Katz)

The Middle School has many great traditions as well. In the cake roll, a cake is rolled to determine whether it will be a long or a short winter. There’s also the legendary revels performance, in which Lower School music teacher Peggy McDonnell directs a musical performance consisting of hundreds of children. Another annual performance is the eighth grade musical in which students are expected to audition in front of their entire class.

One of the best traditions, however, that the Beginnings School, Middle School, and Upper School students participate in is Spring Festival. Spring Festival is a family-friendly event with bouncy houses, face painting, miniature pony rides, toy fishing, musical performances and food. The musical performances range from a rendition of “Hit the Road Jack” with hats and canes to Indonesian bamboo stick dances. There is also the adorable Maypole dance in which first graders skip around holding hands and waving ribbons. There are endless other activities such as henna and human dunking stations. This year Catlin Gabel’s Spring Festival will be on Sunday, May 5.

Although Catlin traditions have been around for ages, new ones are being made to bring the community even closer.

The Thorns home opener was on Sunday, April 21 at Jeld-Wen Field. The match was played against their early rivals, the Seattle Reign. Over the span of the current season, Portland will face the Reign a total of four times. Seattle was missing two of their key players on Sunday, Hope Solo, star US keeper, and Megan Rapinoe, feisty US midfielder, who will both be away from the NWSL until June, due to a wrist injury and playing in a European league, respectively.

Portland soccer fans definitely seem to feel good about the roster the Thorns have acquired. Heading up the front line are world class forwards, Christine Sinclair and Alex Morgan. Sinclair has played on the Canadian national team for thirteen years and currently holds the title of the third most goals for women on the international level of all time, behind retired Mia Hamm and Western NY Flash player Abby Wambach. Christine Sinclair attended University of Portland and made a very prestigious name for herself, breaking records and winning championships. Sinclair’s uncle, Brian Gant, coached soccer at Catlin Gabel for many years. Alex Morgan (nicknamed “baby horse” on the US national team) helped lead the United States team to gold in the 2012 Olympics and silver in the 2011 World Cup.

Thorns coach, Cindy Parlow Cone, is new to coaching, but has a vast amount of soccer experience. She played at the professional level, earning two gold medals and one silver medal, for eleven years until 2006, when she retired due to injuries. She seems very excited about coaching in Portland and during interviews on April 20 spoke of the “amazing atmosphere” and “tremendous reception from all of the Portland area.”

The Portland Thorns (Photo: Ian Fyfield)

So far, the Thorns seem to be a team that excels in the second half. During their game against the Reign, after halftime, they seemed to find their groove and be in the correct field positioning to get a few balls up to Morgan for goal scoring opportunities in the box. Morgan finally got her first goal for the franchise and the second for the Thorns in the game in the 51st minute. Thorns defender, Marin Dougherty, off of a corner kick, scored the first. Aside from what has so far looked like a stellar offense, the Thorns have a solid defensive base in Rachel Buehler (US National team defender) and Karina LeBlanc (Canadian National team keeper).

Although Sinclair usually plays forward, Parlow placed her in midfield. Sinclair spoke of this adjustment after the game and seemed enthusiastic about taking on the role. In the postgame press conference, Parlow said this of the decision and Sinclair: “[She is] one of the best passers of the ball in the game and I wanted her on the ball more for that reason, so we dropped her more into the midfield so we could get her the ball more and you saw it tonight with her feed onto Alex.” Along with utilizing Sinclair’s strong talent for feeding balls down the field to attacking players, Parlow also talked of the chemistry between Sinclair and Morgan. They played on a team together during the last women’s league and have already built a degree of trust between each other.

CatlinSpeak got a chance to talk to Morgan after practice on Saturday the 20th. Most people, in an interview with Morgan, would talk about soccer. When CatlinSpeak spoke with her, it concerned pulled pork and the great pulled pork french fries at Potato Champion.

When talking with the Thorns assistant coach John Galas, the question came up about how the new US women’s soccer league would overcome the difficulties past failed leagues struggled with. Galas said support from league officials as well as the Canadian, Mexican and American soccer federations was key, and that this league was built from a different model. He also commented about the great turnout, saying “the support that we’ve seen around the league, attendance wise, in the opening weekends was a very positive sign”. Galas hopes the league continues to strive, not just for his sake, but for these talented players that deserve it.

Sunday’s game against the Seattle Reign was definitely an important event for this league’s future. A record was set for the NWSL, with 16,479 people attending the Portland game. This comes as no surprise, seeing as the men’s professional soccer team in Portland, the Timbers, has a large fan base. Like the Timbers games, fans sang and chanted in an exuberant manner. Rachel Buehler, Portland Thorns defender, described the Portland fans turnout to be “World Cup-type style.”

In Oblivion, that world-building is very well done. A sense of uncomfortable monotony and unease is expressed early on and helps to set the tone of the film. Still, like so many good-looking sci-fi movies, everything eventually turns into a giant, explosion-riddled battle for survival.

Tom Cruise and Andrea Riseborough star as a couple living in a massive spire built in the destroyed vestige of New York City. 50 years prior, Earth was attacked by aliens called Scavengers, or “Scavs,” and the war that eventually drove them off left Earth a shadow of its former glory. Humanity has been driven to turning the oceans into fuel for giant ships bound for Saturn’s moon Titan.

(Source: wikipedia.org)

Cruise and Riseborough are some of the last people on guard duty, protecting these massive ships from the last remnants of the Scavs, while also reporting to mission controller Melissa Leo, a mildly sinister lady whose evil intentions you can see coming from a mile away.

Oblivion looks great. Directed by Joseph Kosinski, whose last movie was the controversial (and also beautiful) Tron: Legacy, the art style is simply inspiring. Environments shift from sparse, clean looking, utopian settings to organic, dirty, and somewhat welcoming scenery. Both come off as completely real and are a testament to both the directing and the cinematography from Claudio Mirana, who also worked on Tron.

However, Tom Cruise is still there. There’s nothing here to really distinguish him from his roles in Minority Report or Mission: Impossible. He briefs the audience on his emotions with voice overs telling us he’s sad or in love. He also keeps repeating a poem by Thomas B. Macaulay about death, in which he tells us he’s gonna pull through.  He never really brings any real character to the role, sleepwalking through gorgeous post-apocalyptic landscapes.

All in all, Oblivion looks fantastic. It just isn’t hiding any depth underneath all that beauty.

So one afternoon I pulled Ian away from his tennis practice to see if he would like to be the next BOTM. Eagerly he accepted and agreed to come to meet me before school.

He arrived at our meeting early; I was immediately impressed by his organization and commitment, something rare for freshman boys. In addition his sunny demeanor and bright smile at 7:30 in the morning are a testament to his positive and fun attitude.

(Photo: Siobhan Furnary)

What is one thing that girls should know about you?

I am actually old for my grade, so I am the age of most sophomores. A lot of girls don’t know that about me because I am a freshman but in my preschool they started all the boys when they were six and I have a summer birthday. (A call out to freshman girls looking for an “older man”?)

Do you have any secret talents?

Maybe its not so secret, but I play guitar, and I was in a band over the summer.

Have you ever wooed any girls with your guitar skills?

(Smirking) I’d be lying if I say that I haven’t.

Do you prefer spontaneous or perfectly planned dates?

I am really open to anything, I usually like a rough plan but after the date starts I see where it goes.

What is the ideal date to you?

I think probably going to get dinner at sushi and then going to a Blazers game and then take her home.

What do you look for in a girl?

I look for girls that are really comfortable in their own skin, girls that are really comfortable talking to me about themselves and don’t feel they have to be shy around me. Really nice girls.

(Photo: Siobhan Furnary)

Any deal breakers?

When girls are on their phone they whole time you are trying to talk to them.

What do you do to get a girl’s attention?

I’m usually pretty up-front. Usually I just start a conversation and see where it takes me.

Sometimes it doesn’t go too well but… (He looks out the window of the study room uncomfortably, perhaps reminiscing about a time when his direct approach wasn’t as successful)

Any embarrassing love stories?

The first time I put my arm around a girl I tried to tell a story about two turtles getting separated which ends with me reaching my arm across the girl, but she didn’t hear and it didn’t work.

What was her reaction?

She just laughed, giggled a bit and kept watching the movie.

What are three words that best describe you?

(After much thought) Caring, athletic, and nice.

Do you have your eyes on anyone now?

No I’m pretty open. Especially those older girls who aren’t tied down by prom dates (he adds jokingly).

Well ladies, if you are looking for a nice guy who is sure to take you on adventures, approach Ian and perhaps try some suave move to get your arm around him. Just watch out because Tintin tends to get himself in trouble.

]]> http://speak.catlin.edu/2013/05/bachelor-of-the-moment-ian/feed/ 0 http://speak.catlin.edu/2013/05/bachelor-of-the-moment-ian/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CatlinSpeak/~3/AeWbuttfqyM/ http://speak.catlin.edu/2013/05/new-season-new-coaches/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 15:00:42 +0000 Dana Ellis http://speak.catlin.edu/?p=4327 Catlin Gabel soccer has a rich and storied history, and has boasted one of the most successful 3A programs over the years. In 2013, a new chapter will unfold as two new coaches take over the boys’ and girls’ varsity soccer teams.

The past two years marked the separate departures of two long-tenured coaches: boys’ varsity coach and former athletic director Mike Davis, and girls’ varsity coach and former Upper School math teacher Mark Lawton.

Davis left in 2011, following a 2010 state championship win for his boys. Alumnus Roger Gantz ’89 took over for the 2011 season, coming into a very young team that had just lost eleven seniors from the previous year. He had tremendous success with the boys, coaching the team to the semi-final round of the state playoffs.

An April 3 email from athletic director Sandy Luu announced that Gantz would be stepping down from his position as head coach, and would be replaced by longtime boys’ varsity assistant coach and Upper School history teacher Peter Shulman.

Shulman has coached at Catlin Gabel for ten years, and will begin his second decade in the head coaching position. He’s played soccer since age six, including four years on the varsity squad at Haverford College, and he’s been coaching since 8th grade, when he helped with a team of five- and six year-olds. In fact, Shulman has spent all but two years of his 21-year teaching career coaching soccer.

In his time at Catlin Gabel, Shulman has helped coach some, “wicked good” teams. When he arrived, the boys scored 86 goals and allowed only three his first season. They went on to beat the 4A (at the time, 4A was the largest OSAA classification) state champions, and lost only one game in his first two years with the Eagles.

While the 2013 team may not quite reach that bar, Shulman has high expectations and big goals for this seasons team. He says his primary goal is to focus on possession, but he’ll also focus on transitions, set plays, and experimenting with formations that deviate from the team’s typical 4-4-2 lineup. “I think we’ll have a few tricks up our sleeves,” he says.

Shulman, who describes his coaching style as “positive but demanding,” also plans to put emphasis on fitness, and isn’t ruling out sending the boys over to Mike Davis (who will return as the boys’ JV coach) for some conditioning.

In general, Shulman looks forward to next season. “The skill level I think is going to be pretty high,” he comments. “We’re not going to be Barcelona, but you don’t have to be very big if you’ve got skill, speed, and a good team concept. It should be fun. We’re young, but I like where I think we’re headed.”

On the girls’ side, Chris Dorough ’03 will take over from Lisa Unsworth, who took the reins from Lawton for the 2012 season after four years as assistant coach. Luu announced Dorough as Unsworth’s replacement in an email to the Catlin community on April 3rd.

Dorough was a lifer at Catlin, and played under Davis, who coached the team to three state championships––including one win––during Dorough’s time on varsity.

He makes the return to Catlin after years coaching for Tualatin Hills United Soccer Club (a club soccer team) and the Scappoose High School girls’ varsity team. He joins a program that reached the state finals every year––winning once––in the last three years of Lawton’s tenure, and fell just short of the semi-finals this year in an overtime loss to St. Mary’s of Medford.

In an email, Dorough said he wanted to coach at Catlin Gabel because it “feels like home to me. I grew up on the campus and had countless amazing teachers,” including Art Leo, Dale Rawls, and Tom Tucker. “Once I started coaching I always had the Catlin Gabel girls’ job in the back of my mind, and at this point in my coaching career I believe I’m ready.”

Now that he’s back, Dorough plans to, like Shulman, focus on possession and looking to make offensive plays in the game. He also says his main goal for the girls is to “work hard to return the program to its once [dominant] state, but enjoy and approach the game with passion.”

His own passion for the game is clear, too. Says Dorough, “I’m most looking forward to the fall and working with the team each day in practice to get better. I believe everytime you touch the ball you have a chance to get better.  I can’t wait to return [to] the school and field that shaped me and give back.”

Both teams have much to look forward to in the coming season with coaches who have such long-standing relationships with Catlin Gabel’s soccer program at the helm.

Says Shulman, “we will try to play some beautiful soccer.”

However, even if it ended on a low note, there were a few positives that came out of the year. Damian Lillard should take home the Rookie of the Year trophy by a healthy margin, joining Brandon Roy as the only two Blazers to win the award since Sidney Wicks in 1971-72, which, coincidentally, is the only other time Portland lost 13 games in a row.

Though some may condemn the current losing streak as it is the result of “tanking,” the process in which a team does everything within its power to strategically lose, the end result was actually a positive for Portland.

Due to a trade with the Bobcats for Gerald Wallace in the 2010-11 season, the Blazers owed Charlotte their first-round pick for this upcoming draft. However, a provision in the trade made the pick top-12 protected, i.e. Portland would retain the pick if it were 12th or lower.

As soon as it became clear that the Blazers were headed for the draft lottery, their record got worse and worse, and their draft prospects got better and better. On the last day of the season, Portland was tied with Philadelphia and Toronto in both the wins and losses column, but two wins for the Eastern Conference teams and a Blazers defeat at the hands of the Warriors left Portland in sole possession of the tenth worst record in the NBA.

Basically, between the All-Star Break and the end of the season, the Blazers gave up, started waving a white flag, and began praying that Nerlens Noel’s ACL would heal well.

Nicolas Batum (88), an integral part of the leadership in Portland. (Photo: New York Times)

This year’s draft class has largely been panned by most scouts for lacking in star power, but for a team like Portland, with three or four locker room leaders already a part of the program, it may be the perfect class to help bolster its weak bench and add the player that will help catapult Portland into the 2014 playoffs. Here are some possible routes for the Blazers to take:

PG/SG C.J. McCollum, Lehigh

A small-school senior point guard with unlimited range and the ability to play off the ball, McCollum’s game bears a striking resemblance to Lillard’s, but for the fact that McCollum has an impressive tourney record to back up his stats. You may recognize the name Lehigh from last year’s NCAA tournament, in which the Mountain Hawks joined the exclusive club of 15 seeds to win in the round of 64, beating Duke 75-70. McCollum had 30 points and six assists in that game, and was ready to follow it up with another strong season before breaking his foot in January. Through the first couple months of the season, however, he played well, averaging 23.9 points with strong 50/52/85 (Fg%/3PTFG%/FT%) shooting splits. He could immediately step in and provide bench scoring and three-point shooting to a team that desperately needs it, although scouts question his size and lack of a true position.

C Alex Len, Maryland

Although the Blazers drafted a center, Meyers Leonard, with the 11th pick in last year’s draft, Len would provide a much different presence down low. While Leonard’s game focuses on athleticism, energy, and hustle, Len offers a more skilled and offensively advanced approach to the inside game. In one of the most surprising and dominant performances of the college basketball season, Len came out and demolished vaunted Kentucky center Nerlens Noel in the season opener, racking up 23 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocks while holding Noel to just four points. With a solid post-up game, good passing skills, and a solid jump shot, Len is the Blazers’ best bet if they’re looking for size in the mid-lottery.

SF Shabazz Muhammad, UCLA

Although Muhammad is projected by most experts to be off the board by the time the Blazers’ pick comes around, he, out of all the top picks, seems to be most primed for a draft-day drop. There’s just the right combination of on-the-court attitude and off-the-court issues for NBA teams to want to back off. It happened to Andre Drummond last year, and it looks like it might happen again here. Shabazz started off the year with an impermissible benefits suspension that the NCAA, in a manner only too familiar to college sports fans, mishandled and eventually rescinded. Then the strange news came out recently that Muhammad is, in fact, 20 years old, not 19 as he led everyone to believe. That, combined with UCLA’s relative ineffectiveness in the tournament, spells a long, heartwrenching drop for a player who many believed could be the top pick in the draft at the beginning of the year. He would provide the Blazers with a sweet-shooting backup to Nicolas Batum, who, despite being tenth in the league in three point attempts, is a slightly above-average shooter at best.

SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia

An early candidate for highest-riser in the draft, Caldwell-Pope is a dead-eye shooting guard who also plays great defense, à la Brandon Rush of the Golden State Warriors. He has only slightly above average shooting statistics from the shorter college three-point line, but scouts believe his form is strong and that the stats are a result of the large scoring burden he held for the Bulldogs. He is also the only player of ESPN’s top 30 players in the draft without a single game with single-digit points. He needs to work on his ability to create his own shot to be anything more than a role player in the NBA, but his current skill set as an off-ball shooter and lockdown defender could provide the Blazers with a valuable player off the bench.

Of course, on the off chance (1.1 percent, to be exact) that Portland winds up with the top pick after the draft lottery, the choice will come down to either Noel or Kansas shooting guard Ben McClemore. Noel would immediately become the Blazers’ future at center and the low-post defensive stalwart it so desperately desires, while McClemore could step in as the franchise wing and leave open the possibility of trading Wesley Matthews to bolster the bench. Ultimately, Noel would be the better choice, rounding out the team and helping Portland’s starting five become one of the strongest in the NBA. Tune in to the draft lottery on May 21 to see the unveiling of the Blazers’ draft position and the experts’ predictions on the next Blazers’ rookie.

Hannah, Audrey and Fiona at the 2012 mayoral debate. (Photo: Deborah Naugler)

Being part of the new CatlinSpeak created opportunities we would have never imagined. We took on new roles, including leading a 19-person staff, publishing weekly online content, and organizing the mayoral debates, which challenged us to think on our feet, and allowed us to gain new confidence.

We want to thank the school, the newspaper staff, and our advisors George and Patrick for trusting us to take CatlinSpeak in a different direction. We want to thank each other for the collaboration, honesty, and ambitious attitude with which we approached this venture.

The excitement and willingness with which the students and faculty have responded to our work has been exhilarating, and we are grateful to have managed a news source for such an encouraging community. We appreciate that we were able to contribute to an audience that offered us ideas, constructive criticism, and readership. Catlin, and more specifically the Upper School, was our sounding board, and a mighty good one at that.

We value our role within Catlin because it has given us the chance to develop a more legitimate and significant student voice, and we hope that CatlinSpeak continues to feature prominently within the Catlin community. It’s been exciting to see the newspaper educate readers, be it on the pros and cons of fluoride implementation, the candidates of the mayoral race, the cross country teams, or local food haunts. It’s powerful to write for an audience larger than a single teacher or peer reviewers, and we’ve come to appreciate this influence over the past two years.

As we depart the school, we look forward to seeing CatlinSpeak further develop its niche. The ever-changing nature of the paper is key to its success, and we hope to see the new editors, Gabby, Nico, and Simon, continue in this spirit of innovation.

In the words of esteemed philosopher and impressive student-singer-athlete Troy Bolton, “we’re soaring, we’re flying, there’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach.”

Hasta la vista,

Hannah, Audrey, and Fiona

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, if someone uses tanning beds before the age of 35 he or she increases his or her risk of contracting melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer, by 75 percent. However, over one third of Grant High School senior girls attending their prom said that they were planning on getting tanning bed services before the dance (of 53 surveyed). If tanning is so harmful, why are adolescents still doing it?

16-year-old Victoria Kirkland of St. Mary’s Academy has a tanning bed in her home that she tans in once a week, and she is planning on tanning more often before prom. She says, “I like how [tanning] makes my complexion look … My parents are fine with it, in fact they tan too.” Similarly, 18-year-old Avalon Bryce of Grant High School says that she tans before prom “so I look better in pictures.”

Besides causing premature aging effects, tanning is one of the most significant causes of skin cancer. About 90 percent of non-melanoma diagnoses are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States today, with over two million diagnoses a year, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

Victoria Kirkland uses her tanning bed in her home once a week. (Photo: Victoria Kirkland)

Tanning beds emit up to three times more intense UVA radiation than natural sunlight, according to Harvard Women’s Health Watch. UVA rays are the longer rays of the UV spectrum that penetrate further into the skin than other UV rays.

Barbara Resnick, MD, a Catlin Gabel parent and dermatologist at the Portland Dermatology Clinic, explains what tanning does to your skin: “Basically all of the UV [rays] change [skin] DNA. Your body is pretty good at fixing injuries to DNA, but if you keep on insulting the DNA, it gets harder to fix.” Sunscreen is what protects from direct DNA damage, but overexposure can lead to sunburn and other future health effects, like skin cancer. “13 percent of women ages 18 to 22 [use tanning beds] regularly,” says Resnick. “I have seen teenagers [who use tanning beds] that have pre-cancerous moles.”

Despite the serious risk of damaging skin, Kirkland says that she doesn’t ever think of or worry about possible health effects. Bryce says that she only tans before prom or sometimes before vacation “because I know the risks and and how [they] make me more susceptible to skin cancer, so it doesn’t seem worth it … In the bed I put sunscreen on my face and chest because that skin is the most sensitive … most people don’t [put sunscreen on] and think I’m pretty weird for it.”

Tanning facilities don’t seem to worry about potential health effects at all: in a study conducted by JAMA Dermatology, college students pretended to be 15-year-old girls and called over 3,000 tanning facilities nationwide to inquire about tanning bed use. According to NPR, only 11 percent of the facilities followed the FDA recommendation of advising new members to tan no more than three days a week. Additionally, Palm Beach Tan, a popular national tanning franchise, offers no form of health risk warnings on its website. However, facilities do seem to worry about liability issues: Bryce says “I signed [some papers] but I am aware of the risks and [wouldn’t] blame the people at the tanning [salon for future health effects].”

Although Oregon bans commercial tanning for minors without parental consent, Bryce says that when she tanned at Venus and Mars, a local tanning facility, they didn’t thoroughly check if she was under eighteen.

Legislation in the United States has also addressed the possible dangers of tanning: California and Vermont both have bans on all minors tanning in commercial tanning salons, and Oregon’s House of Representatives recently passed a proposed bill to ban commercial tanning bed use for minors without a physician’s referral on March 7, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Palm Beach Tan offers both spray tanning and bed tanning. A representative of Palm Beach Tan in Northwest Portland comments, “Most of the [minors] that come in before prom come in to get spray tans,” as opposed to bed tanning. This trend is also seen among Catlin Gabel and St. Mary’s Academy upperclassmen girls attending prom, with nearly zero saying that they would use tanning beds, yet 17 percent saying they were planning on using a self-tanning lotion, and four percent saying they were planning on getting a spray tan (of 90 surveyed).

Although it seems that a minority of teens choose to tan before prom, do the reasons that they choose to tan outweigh the possible health effects? Even though Palm Beach Tan says that the sun is “the fundamental ingredient for all life forms,” perhaps laying under fluorescent ultraviolet bulbs isn’t the best way to glow.

Wonderly is a creative cooperative between prominent female artists. All of the original content creators that I interviewed work within the medium of short film and music that they ultimately post onto Youtube. While each creator has her own individual channel, the main Wonderly site (wonderly.com) features links to their videos as well. This allows audiences to find creators that they already know, while still being exposed to the other 37 artists who are featured in the site. Wonderly represents a largely unprecedented collaboration between independent filmmakers.

In addition to the videos, the site also features a social media feed with tweets and Instagram photos. A smart phone app based on the site will be released soon. Housed on the site is a store where one can buy hard copies of music and videos created by Wonderly. In addition to Wonderly’s online presence, the organization is also host to a number IRL (in the real world or “offline”) events for creators and audiences to interact in person. In order to help generate ideas, each month Wonderly posts a topic, typically a universal theme such as March 2013’s “play” for creators to work with. Anyone who wants to can submit work fitting in that theme, and one is chosen to be “featured fan of the week” and have their work featured on the site.

What content do you produce?

Grayson Burger http://www.youtube.com/user/pirategray?feature=: I create a bundle of videos: Vlogs, Funny Skits, Cinematography, Poetry type videos, discussion topics, daily vlogs, gaming videos (playthroughs and guides), questionnaire videos, and just a bundle of things that interest me.

Emily The Bravee  http://www.youtube.com/user/emilythebravee: I’m a vlogger, but I’m working on incorporating some more animation into my videos because I’m in school for animation. I’m currently developing an original animated web series that we’ll hopefully be apart of Wonderly.

Sarah Sneak http://www.youtube.com/user/Sarahsneak: I create a smattering of content. I don’t stick to one genre, because I personally feel like I don’t fit into just one: I’m a comedian, a dramatic actor, a model, a life vlogger. I make content I want to see. My ultimate goal is to help people out who may be in tough spots in their lives. I often have been helped through tough periods in my life by engaging in Youtube and watching other people combat troubles with smiles and open hearts. I hope that I can help at least one person smile in a day. That’s all that matters to me.

Abberz 07 http://www.youtube.com/user/abberz07: I make quite a wide range of content – everything from general day-to-day life vlogs to music recommendations, fashion/styling videos to makeup tutorials. I like to have my content be a good representation of me as a whole and I’d like to keep doing that, and let my channel grow with me.

Marina Watanabe http://www.youtube.com/user/marinashutup

: I make vlogs about the weird characters and happenings in my life. I enjoy dry humor and deadpan comedy and my goal with my channel is to expand my ability to use them effectively and one day produce a web series.

Brizzy Voices http://www.youtube.com/user/brizzyvoices :Most of my content is impressions of cartoon characters. My goal is to make people smile as they are reminded of some of their favorite characters and shows while practicing my voices and challenging myself.

Miss Parker: I create funny, inspirational & sometimes, fashion content on my channel! My goal is to create more inspiring content, create a network within myself to keep people alive, inspired, loved & motivated when it comes to working toward their goals.

Wonderly speaking at a panel at Vid Con. (Photo: Kenneth Woods)

Who may apply to become a part of Wonderly?

http://www.youtube.com/user/rachelskid85

Rachel Skidmore: We are open to inviting non-cis females and reviewing applications from anyone who identifies as a woman.

Why female exclusive?

http://www.youtube.com/user/LanaMcKissack?feature=

Lana McKissack Moore : Wonderely is very important because women are underrepresented in the digital space, and it’s fantastic to have a place with such varied content from strong and independent females.

What is the hardest part of working online?

Grayson Burger: The hardest part is the fact that you’re an entire production team in one person. You have to do your own hair, make up, style (if you choose to), lighting, scripting (depending on the video), filming, camera work, editing, uploading and more. It takes a lot of work, dedication, ambition and passion, but through it all, it’s worth it. Sharing your thoughts and creations to people all around the world, bringing people together and just enjoying what you do is worth it all. Another thing is that there’s a lot of people on the internet that are unforgiving and will make rude comments, trying to tear you apart. Dealing with hate and trolls can be really difficult, but with time and a strong heart, you’ll get past it.

Abberz07: The hardest part of being a film maker is finding a balance between what I’m really excited about and what is actually worth making a video about.

Brizzy Voices: Finding time and place to film is totally the hardest part about filming. I refuse to film with other people around (canNOT focus) so that really limits my options too.

Miss Parker: The hardest part is not having any physical help sometimes when I need it.

Michelle Potter: Sometimes YouTube doesn’t buffer fast enough!

What’s the most fun part of being an internet entertainer?

Brizzy Voices: The most fun part of making videos for me is finishing them and sharing them with the world!

Grayson Burger: When you’re with friends making videos, joking around and just being silly on camera.

Michelle Potter: Sometimes people make gifs of us and post them to Tumblr. *hint hint wink wink* We get a kick out of the fun art fans create. Check out our wonderly.tumblr.com for awesomeness

Abberz 07: The actual editing of the video. And the most fun is connecting and collaborating with other content creators because it only helps me grow as a YouTuber.

Marina Watanbe: Telling stories!

Miss Parker http://www.youtube.com/missparkertv: The easiest/most fun is when I’m done, my video is being seen & my supporters are loving it! My job is done — for a few days! LOL.

What has your experience been like with offline events?

Emily The Bravee: The only offline Wonderly events we’ve had so far are the ones between the other Wonderly girls while we were still launching the site. They’re a blast though. There’s nothing that makes me feel better about doing Wonderly than being surrounded by these amazingly talented girls that I have been fortunate enough to collaborate with. Wonderly bonding ranges anywhere from shopping to parading around Disneyland to eating large amounts of pizza.

Grayson Burger: I absolutely LOVE them. It’s a great way to meet new people, talk with viewers and become a lot more personal to everyone around you. It’s a time where you can to meet people face to face rather through a username and it brings our viewers on a whole other personal level. It’s fantastic! And as for meeting fellow YouTubers, you get to learn, collab, and work with others that have and share similar interests (at least share YouTube in common) and grow together as people. Most times there’s activities like performances which you can watch, booths to meet people, and just mingle with others. Most times such things happen at convention centers (I’m talking like VidCon and PlaylistLive which are absolutely fantastic).

 What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

Grayson Burger: Sometimes people get caught in confusion as they’re trying to make their channels larger. Don’t focus on the numbers as much. Quality is key to YouTube. You need to make videos you enjoy and would want to watch over and over and be happy about. You need to enjoy it and not make it into a job. At first, it will be really difficult to have your videos seen, but with some research, proper meta data (descriptions, tags, titles, etc) you can quickly learn the ways of YouTube and the community and thrive with time. Just be yourself, have fun, and post things YOU like.

Brizzy Voices: After 6 years of pursuing art and animation the biggest thing I’ve learned is that you need to be your biggest fan. No one is going always be there for you except yourself and no one will motivate you more than yourself. It’s cheesy, but believe in yourself!

To see more from these talented artists and others, visit Wonderly.com, youtube or twitter.