Oak Park and River Forest High School - Tabula Yearbook (Oak Park, IL)

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Putting Oneself On The Line A Nerve-Racking Situation acing back and forth, biting fingernails and developing a terrible case of the jitters are all part of getting involved. Getting involved in school activities is very important. No doubt you ' ve heard that many times before. However, making it into an activity, whether drama, music, student government, or sports, often involved putting yourself on the line in an audition, try-out, or election. The list of activities that were offered a student at OPRF was almost endless. However, most activities required that the student show his or her ability in that particular field in order to participate. This situa- tion often created a lot of tension and nervousness. For drama, students had to show their talent in an audition in order to get a role in a play. In last year ' s production of The tvlusic fvlan al- most 300 students tried out for parts. The competition was rough, said senior Cathy Weber. Knowing that there was so much talent out there really made me nervous. Auditions are really rough on your nerves, said junior Angela DeWeese. Thinking positively and be- ing prepared helps me overcome my nervousness. Although auditions put many through some trying moments, senior Paula Bintz said, It ' s all worth it when you go out for your applause! In running for Student Council the reward came not from applause, but from trying to better the school and the lives of its students. For Student Council the prospective candidates stood in front of a class assembly while a prepared statement was read for them, explaining why they believed they were best qualified for the position. When you stand in front of all those people you really get nervous, said junior Mark Shaffer. Hop- ing you ' re going to win relieves some of the tension. Sports at OPRF also created tension for partici- pants. For most sports a student wishing to join had to show his ability and desire to excel in that particu- lar sport. The try-outs are tough, said junior James Quinlivan. Competition is so intense . , . The pres- sure is always on! Activities of many different types required some sort of try-out which left the possibility of not getting accepted. This made making it all the more meaning- ful. -Al Diaz After filling out applications and writing essays about them- selves, students check to see if they have made Tabula staff. Elections Auditions Tryouts 29

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Ross Brown In October, freshmen line up to vote for ttieir choices in the Freshman Class Council election. In order to get their classmates to vote for them, candidates made posters and summarized their views. After having made Symphony Orchestra, Lisa Simone and Bonnie Watson tryout once again for John Wirtz to determine which chair each will be in. 28 Elections Auditions Tryouts

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Avoiding a long walk, seniors Helen Giuntini. Robin Menna and Julia Andersen welcome a ride to school. Driving to school in the morning allows juniors John Eck and Rob Howell lime to stop for coffee Ross BfOwn Spinning Your Wheels Finding Different Ways To Get Around ey Mom, can I use the car? Where are you going? Out. With whom? A bunch of friends. When are you going to be back? I don ' t know. This conversation probably sounds familiar if you ' ve ever tried to get the family ' s car on a Friday or Saturday night. Students at OPRF utilized many means of trans- portation to get around. The types of transportation used depended on your year in school, the area in which you lived and what the transportation was being used for. One of the most widely used forms of wheels was public transportation. Students used the El to get to sporting events. Oak Street beach, downtown for shopping and also to get to school. Up until last year buses were also widely used but with the service cuts and the large fare increases it became cheaper and more convenient to share a cab with some friends. Others parted from the conventional modes of trans- portation. These people utilized skate boards, unicy- cles, roller skates and anything else that would help them get around faster than walking. The most popular form of transportation was the car. Before getting a license one had the choice of bumming a ride, bicycling, or, as a last resort, walk- ing to school. Bumming a ride from Mom or Dad worked fine if your parents didn ' t sleep late. For those who couldn ' t get a ride, biking was a popular alternative, even among upperclassmen. This was evident simply from a look at the bike racks on a warm day. Getting your license meant that your parents could make you do twice as many errands, including chauf- ferring little brothers and sisters around. But the slight inconveniences were far outweighed by the privileges of a license. Movies became accessible. Kids would take trips without parents. And no longer did one have to ask his parents to drive him and his date to dinner or a movie. Also, one acquired the privilege of driving his friends around on a Friday or Saturday night. This pitfall was more commonly known as cruisin ' . The word cruisin ' conjured up different ideas for different people. Senior Dan Hegarty said, Cruisin ' means getting wasted and driving around looking for parties and girls. On the other hand, one freshman said, Cruisin ' means riding around on bikes. .Typically an evening of cruisin ' started with a group of friends trying to think of something to do. Someone usually knew where a party was, or, more likely, thought he knew. You and your friends drove over there only to find you had the wrong address or else that the party was cancelled. After a few weekends of cruisin ' you began to sympathize with adults who complained about the crazy teenage drivers. However, seeing the crazy drivers among the teenagers made many adults for- get that most high school students were cautious drivers. Throughout their four years at OPRF students used many different modes of transportation, but almost all the students found that a car was the most | convenient and also the most fun. Z -Eric PoulsonS 30 Wheels