The Hewitt Times

Rebecca Aydin ‘14 and Susannah Meyer ‘15 sit seven blocks away from each other in their respective apartments. They Co-(Editorially)-Exist as one entity in the name of The Hewitt Times, in constant contact via e-mail, text, and Facebook message:

Saturday, 10:28 AM

Hewitt survival guides are done! Jessica’s and Paloma’s are edited. Maybe we can send them out to the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades individually?

 

Individual blast emails? Or why don’t we ask Dr. Burgess to do a full blast for the whole paper and mention it- get some PR.

 

 Agreed. Should we publish them now and email her? I’ll band the guides together and make a page.

 

Yes.

 

 Ah wait, we forgot to take our photo for the Op-Ed section!

 

OH NO. Wow

 

 And write our intro article.

 

 We can handle just about everything HT related but our ourselves; let’s get to it!

 

Rebecca Becky: So Susannah, what do you love about The Hewitt Times?

Susannah: Whoa, that’s a pretty loaded question! What’s not to love? There’s something for everyone — a witty edvice column for the confused, up-to-date news coverage for the aspiring journalists, Saucy Sunday for the foodies, Who Wore it Best for the fashionistas… my list could go on and on for a while. What about you?

Becky: It’s been a love affair since freshman year for me; something about getting a platform to speak about topics that really matter–whether it be an article about a pressing current event (like the international debacle over how to handle the recent chemical weapons attack in Syria) or an event in the Hewitt community (like TEDxYouth@Hewitt). The immediacy of our paper is another winning aspect in my eyes; our leap to an online publication in 2010 has freed us from the constraints of print, allowing us to write about time sensitive articles just as they develop. Our website is sleek, interactive, and frankly fun; it really seems to be reeling in and engaging our readers!  Anyways, tell me a little bit about your HT history: what have you been doing on the paper the past few years? If you had to name one article you’ve written that you are most proud of, what would it be?

Susannah: Well, my relationship with HT started when I was in 8th grade, so the two of us have gotten to know each other pretty well. I was a reporter for two years, and last year I edited the paper’s Science and Technology section. Sci/Tech articles are often my favorite to write, just because there’s always something new happening. But my all-time favorite article that I’ve contributed to is definitely “The Election 2012.” The whole editorial team collaborated digitally to get minute by minute coverage of the presidential race to the Hewitt community, and it really sparked a great conversation: a 42-comment long conversation, to be exact.

Now tell me, who’s Becky outside of Editor-in-Chief?

Becky: TWINNING AGAIN! (Susannah may already have an identical twin named Rebecca, but this year she’s sharing a brain with this Rebecca). That’s my all-time favorite article too! Fun fact: that editorial collaboration sprung out of my dress rehearsal for “Mother Courage and Her Children” being the same night as the election. I had originally intended to cover the evening myself as the Current Events section editor but realized I would only be home for the tail end of the results. So, I suggested during one of our infamous Monday Morning 7:30 AM staff meetings that everyone cover the results live as they came in!

Now back to your question, Becky outside of the HT realm: I’m a thespian (currently rehearsing for “Metamorphoses”, the Hewitt Fall play), creative writer (poetry, short stories, and screenplays), musician (not a good one- just been dabbling rather pathetically with piano…for 9 years) and filmmaker. I actually did an awesome Film/Video Production program run by the NHSI on Northwestern University’s campus for five weeks this summer where I got to write, direct, and edit my own short film!

I hear you spent your summer doing something awesome too, want to share?

Susannah: Sure! I went to the iSchool at Drexel for a month where I got to develop my own mobile app, WeatherSense! It’s a weather app for the visually impaired. In the app, your screen is essentially one big button. After the app opens and you hear a voice introduction and list of commands (from someone who sounds creepily like Siri) like “Temperature,” “Forecast,” “Details,” and “Clothing,” you can click anywhere on the screen to start speaking after a tone. The app will then recognize what you’re saying and speak back the right information. The user experience is almost completely based on voice and sound, making it accessible for people who can’t see. But unfortunately for all you iPhone users out there, the app is only compatible with Android devices, available to be downloaded exclusively from the Play Store, aka my computer.

I also attended a Samsung USA App Academy, a two-day crash course in app design, and had an internship with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. I guess you could say it was a productive summer.

What else should I know about my co-editor? Favorite class this year?

Becky: Too soon to tell! Believe it or not, we’re only seven days into school (I know, I know, summer feels like an eternity ago). I’m excited to be taking a bunch of classes I’ve been looking forward to for a few years (AP Lit, AP Bio, AP French, Honors Latin V), new additions (Economics with Ms. Kornblatt!) and, of course, Advanced Studio Art with Mr. Rose for my third year. OKAY- You have 24 hours left to live, you have an infinite amount of money and the ability to travel anywhere on Earth or in the universe, what would YOU do?

Susannah: Wow, again with the loaded questions! You really are a journalist…

Becky: Merci, merci. It’s potentially one of my life’s paths so I would really hope so, ANSWER THE QUESTION.

Susannah: …Well, I’ve never traveled to Europe, so I guess that’s a starting point. I’d probably head to Italy and buy excessive amounts of food (i.e. sauces, pizza, pasta, tiramisu, pie [I’m a fan with and without the e]). I’m a pretty big food enthusiast, if you couldn’t already tell from my other half (no, I’m not talking about anyone named Rebecca), Sauceannah. Then again, if we’re talking about the universe, the moon wouldn’t be so bad either. Okay, my turn: if you could only do one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Becky: …Reading on a roof overlooking the Manhattan skyline surrounded by cats. I love Jack Kerouac so I would finish reading all his work first. Then I’d move onto other Beat Generation writers (I’ve got Naked Lunch just sitting on my bookshelf right now), then some Sylvia Plath. And then everything else in existence. What is your favorite Hewitt memory of all time?

Susannah: There are so many to choose from, considering the fact that I’ve attended Hewitt since kindergarten! But at this point, most of the memories from when my age was just a single digit are pretty blurry — those were some stressful times. But if I had to choose one, I’d say it was last year after my math exam. I know that sounds really strange, but allow me to explain. My Honors Precalc class taught by Ms. Kornblatt only had seven people in it, so we became a pretty tight knit group. To celebrate a great year of math, we all indulged in a type of pi we weren’t really used to — pizza! After the pizza came more pie, only apple. The seven of us sat for hours just talking and eating (very typical behavior), only realizing later that we had multiple exams the next day! It was just one of those small moments at Hewitt that came with relief of accomplishment and was just fun.

Should we end the Q&A soon? It’s getting kinda long.

 

Yeah..How should we end it?

 

Uhhh something HT-related…We need a catch phrase!

 

Hmm…Let’s Hawk and Roll this week?

 

Nah that’s already Hawks TV’s thing. We need something better…

 

How about “By Pen, Not by Sword, We Conquer”…but in LATIN

 

STILŌ NON GLADIŌ VINCIMUS