Torch: WI | Page 2

PAGE 2 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Salvete, amici! The WJCL has really been working hard throughout the past two months. I loved reading about all the activities you planned for National Classics Week and all the fun you had with your Latin clubs. School is drawing to a close, which means that AP exams and finals are also rapidly approaching. (As I’m not prepared for any of the above, this should be an interesting month for me.) However, once you’ve survived those ordeals, it’s time to prepare for nationals! The price of attending nationals will increase twice during the month of May, so if you haven’t registered yet, you should do so quam celerrime. Also prepare for hype Certamen practices, “legit Ludi practices, like you’re going to sweat,” and insane spirit cheers. Get ready for another Wisconsin Ludi sweep! I’m so excited for the incredible summer we’re going to have and the amazing results all your hard work will win for Wisco. Always remember to keep the “classic” in “Junior Classical League!” E corde, Margot Armbruster 2016-2017 WJCL Editor INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL KEARNEY BY MARGOT ARMBRUSTER Who or what first inspired you to join JCL? Predictably, Certamen. In October of my freshman year, my Latin teacher, Mr. Dybicz, told our class about this awesome quiz-bowl-esque trivia game. I went to my first practice, learned I was alright at it, and a beautiful relationship blossomed – the rest is history. What was your first impression of the JCL? Perhaps this is slightly cheating, as it refers to MUHS JCL more than anything else, but I’d have to go with how ad hoc whole thing is. I particularly recall Certamen practices randomly during lunch, practicing spirit cheers for the first time on the day of, and the hurried composition of roll call on the bus to Madison. Surprisingly, we did not win spirit that year (nor any year since). What is your favorite JCL memory? The issue is, so many things qualify here. I consider every JCL memory I have made and every JCLer I have met as part of the answer to this question, but I suppose I’m forced to choose one. MICHAEL KEARNEY (MUHS), The moment when it truly clicked for me was, if it qualifies as a moment, when Simon and Eli took me under their wing. Sure, there were a couple of other MUHS NJCL 1ST VICE PRESIDENT delegates at convention, and I still consider them some of my greatest friends, but it What do you look forward to didn’t have the same effect—two were seniors and one was a junior. Simon and Eli most at nationals? were just a year above me, but, in my mind, they were who I aspired to be. Meeting new people and connect- If I could condense all of it into a single moment, it would Simon, Eli, and I walking ing with old friends—both from Wis- down the steps of Cox Pavilion at UNLV, debating the answers to the mythology test—I truly knew that I had made it. consin and otherwise. One of my What is your favorite JCL activity? greatest regrets from previous naWell, Certamen—but I suppose I’ll qualify it. tionals is not going out on a limb At its core, Certamen is a relatively simple game of studying and buzzing, but can and meeting more people. I’d say mean a lot more. Through Certamen, I’ve made some of my greatest JCL friends and learned a ton of new things. I’ve steadily improved over my years in the JCL and hope to build Outside of Certamen, I’d go with Spirit—that’s the thing I’ll miss not being able to do most at Nationals this year. on that in my last Nationals. What do you do outside of Latin? Finally, how do you study for Ball is life. Certamen? Do you have any advice for new JCLers? Flashcards. Hmu. Go to the dance—who knows, maybe you’ll see me there. PHOTO BY HANNAH BARRETT, NJCL HISTORIAN FROM OHIO