Fairmont High School - Maple Leaves Yearbook (Fairmont, WV)

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CONTEMPLATING - Before send- ing in a substitute, J.V. Coach Tom Dragich plans his course of action. INTENSE CONCENTRATION - Deep in thought. Junior Angie Rice puzzles over the right word for a fea- ture story for Hi-Life. DISTRACTIONS — While listening to a lecture in Mrs. Judy Byers’ Phase IV English class, Senior Peggy Lee and Sophomore David Brock make plans for their upcoming research pa- pers. DISMAY — Amidst the ups and downs of the East-West football game. Sophomores Lori Topardo and Joanne Bourne await the outcome. FIRST ATTEMPT — Designing a newsmagazine layout for Journalism I, Freshman Cait Anthony adds graphic effects. 16 Habits

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The bell rang, floors vibrated, and the tropies swayed as 275 students raced downstairs to Satisfy the Munchies Lunch. Everybody’s favorite subject. Cafeteria. That’s another story. Students usually associated school cafeterias with everything from slimy green jello to brown cock roaches. Despite these ru- mors, approximately 275 students ate in the cafeteria each day. Approximately 247 of the 275 students ate in the cafeteria every day. These regular eaters designat- ed their lunch seats within the first week of school. Day after day, they could be found in the same seat at the same table. Bruce Gaskin, sophomore, ex- plained, “It’s automatic now. I’ve sat in the same seat at the same table with my friends since the first day of school.” Victims of this eating habit also occupied the space inside the front door on the steps by the Polar Bear statues. Karen Weaver, senior, explained that she liked being out of the main flow of traffic. “It’s nice and warm by the radia- tors in the winter and it’s fun to sit and watch everyone without being stepped on,” said Dawniele Dus- key, freshman. Changing class at the semester many times meant switching lunches. On this day students wan- dered aimlessly around the cafete- ria looking for a new seat. Freshman with pre-careers fourth period struggled through two switches. “My stomach couldn’t get used to it. When I changed to second lunch, I was starved by 12:04 and when I changed back to first lunch, I wasn’t hungry at 11:04,” replied Crystal Findo, freshman. The adjustment to these lunch break switches even caused some emotional upset. Carol Bland, freshman, noted, “I left all of my friends behind me. When I changed again, I left all of my new friends behind me.” In the end, adjusting one’s stom- ach and finding new eating com- panions became a daily routine in itself. Lunch 15

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With temptations everywhere, forcing oneself to stop bad habits became a Reoccurring Nightmare Everyone has them. Some ap- pear obvious, some hidden. Some seem constant, others occur once- in-a-while. Some happen uncon- ciously, while others are a result of nerves. Most students are plagued by habits. For a few it’s biting their ■» nails, tapping their foot against the floor, cracking their knuckles or I shaking their leg. Others resort to . twisting their hair, playing with a necklace or chewing on a pencil. Along with having a habit comes the desire to break it. The reactions of one’s friends 1 provided students with the inita- tive to resist the urge. After constantly listening to her y classmates laugh when her neck- laces got tangled in her hair, a freshman said that she had to stop wearing necklaces all together. Most of the time it’s one’s par- ents who try to put an end to the habit. Steven Kendall, sophomore, re- vealed, “My parents made me wear gloves for three days one time so I’d stop biting my nails.” “My mom always tells me how big and ugly my hands are from cracking my knuckles,” comment- ed Lisa Carson, sophomore. “Mainly, mom screams at din- ner. She claims that I shake the en- tire table,” said Jeff Wang, junior. Nevertheless, the failure or suc- cess of breaking a bad habit rested on the student’s willingness to force themselves. “I tried concentrating on my leg,” confessed Rick Fluharty, ju- nior. “The only problem is when I concentrate, I shake my leg,” he added. A fingernail biting senior said that she’s been unsuccessfully giv- ing it up for Lent for the past twelve years. In the process of climbing out of one’s rut, some students fall into another. “I decided I wanted long finger- nails, and I stopped. But now, I bite the shin around my nails,” ex- plained Lori Toparko, sophomore. While some successfully put their habits to rest, others will for- ever listen to their parents say, “Stand up straight or I’ll buy you a back brace.”