by Ethan Gibbs

Being a competitor in an individual sport presents me with a unique experience. Win or lose, there is no one to blame but myself.

When I am climbing up the ladder to the diving board, my brain is racing a million miles per hour. I am thinking about all the possibilities, positive or negative. “Am I gonna smack,” “What if I lose my spot” and “If I squeeze my shoulders I could rip.” 

The second I take my first step on the board, my mind is clear. I am 100% focused on my dive and think about nothing else. It is as if every thought and emotion leaves my body.

After I hit the water, everything comes back to me, all the emotions and thoughts. I start thinking about how good my dive was, and if I am going to get good scores. 

My name is Ethan Gibbs, and I am a springboard diver for St. John Bosco and for my club team, Crown Valley Divers. I will continue to dive for Bosco my senior year, as I did my sophomore year.

When I am on the board, I appear completely calm to those watching me. It is like I don’t have a care in the world. All I am thinking about is doing the best dive I possibly can. I look like I am at peace, but in reality, that is not the case. I am doing my best to seem that way because diving is all about how you present yourself on the board, as well as off the board. 

There are little things divers do to try and increase their score. For example, smiling at the judges and looking prepared will sometimes increase your score by a point. A lot of divers will talk to the judges after a competition and be friendly toward them so that next time the judge sees them in competition, he could potentially favor them over another diver. 

My team and I practice tirelessly before I compete. In the practice session, there are divers on every single board, and they are diving left and right. However, when the time comes for the meet to start, everything changes. When it is my turn, I am alone. None of my teammates are with me. It is silent, and I have every single person’s eyes on me. Everything is on me, and I can’t rely on my teammates for anything. After I complete my dive, I get to be with my teammates and other divers until it is my turn again.

When I was six years old, I started diving at McCormick Divers in Long Beach at the Belmont Plaza Pool. I participated in a diving summer camp. One practice, while I was trying a new dive, I over-rotated and smacked on my back. It hurt a lot and I still can remember the pain from that incident. When I was six I became scared of diving and decided that I did not want to participate in the class any longer. A year later, my parents and I moved to Paris, France, where I started playing tennis. After staying in Paris for five years, we moved to Orlando, Florida, where I started diving again for a team called YCF Divers. This was the beginning of my diving career. 

When I was in sixth grade, my father had told me about a prestigious diving team close by and asked if I wanted to try out. Thus, I went to the evaluation practice and made the team. I started diving two days a week at with an Olympian coach.

I enjoyed diving again, as I could not wait for practice every day, waiting to get in the water and on the boards. I started on the lowest level and eventually worked my way up to the top. Fortunately, I dove with people who got a lot of full-ride scholarships. 

Training for diving involves a lot of conditioning and dryland. Dryland is a place where you work out and train, and it can also help you work on dives you are afraid of, or not ready for. Dryland is made up of springboards into foam pits and mats. There are also trampolines and boxes to do flips and handstands on.

Dryland helps me prepare for dives mentally that I would be too afraid to do in the water for fear of smacking. Smacking and hitting the diving board is what every diver is afraid of. Diving is different from team sports because everyone from all diving teams is experiencing the same fear, and it creates a bond between all divers.

In diving, there is no conflict between teams. Everyone is friendly to one another no matter what team they’re on. Everyone pushes each other to do better and accomplish their goals. In competition, after a diver has gone, people from all teams cheer. 

Diving is different from a “team sport” because in a competition divers are competing against their own teammates as well as other teams. Everyone has their own individual score, and they are judged only on their dive, not the team as a whole.

Judging in diving is extremely hard. The judges begin their assessment even when the diver is not on the board. They are looking at how the diver acts, how they present themselves and if they’re respectful to the other divers. All of that will affect how the judge scores the diver. Although the judge might only score a diver down half a point, half a point can determine first or second place.

Going up to do my eleven dives in competition is extremely stressful. When I’m doing my dive, I have everyone’s attention. The announcer states my name and dives for everyone to hear. Knowing that everyone is watching me doesn’t make it any easier to do my dive, but knowing that every diver has to go through the same brings me comfort.

In the end, hearing everyone cheer for me is worth it. Knowing that so many people were impressed by my dive makes all the stress go away. 

by Matthew Parsons

As the first female Vice Principal of St. John Bosco High School, Ms. Schnorr is paving the way for more diversity in the Bosco community.

Ms. Schnorr grew up in an active household in the South Bay. She is the oldest of four children, with two sisters and a brother. She and all of her siblings were involved in many sports and activities throughout their upbringing, which perhaps planted the seed for her to become a fun and dynamic leader.

Ms. Schnorr participated in an abundance of extracurriculars in her school years, including volleyball, basketball, soccer and softball at the varsity level in high school. She even participated in boy’s baseball her senior year. Not only was she a student-athlete, but she was also a member of her school’s ASB every year.

Ms. Schnorr attended St. Margaret Mary for elementary school, St. Anthony High School and then went on to attend college at California State University, East Bay for a year before transferring to UC Santa Barbara. She double majored in Global Studies and Spanish Literature.

After graduating from UC Santa Barbara, Ms. Schnorr joined the Peace Corps, and she travelled to Africa to live in Mozambique for three years. In Mozambique, she taught English, which was her introduction to teaching. When she returned to the United States, she pursued teaching further, being a substitute teacher at her high school alma mater, St. Anthony.

Being a teacher wasn’t Ms. Schnorr’s original intention in life. Even as her “dream job” changed over the years, it was never teaching. As a child she wanted to become a doctor, but as she grew into her high school years, she changed her pursuit to becoming an Athletic Trainer for the Los Angeles Lakers. Then, after college, Ms. Schnorr’s goal was to join an international non-governmental agency, which ultimately led her to the Peace Corps.

“I love traveling. I love the world, and I love learning about cultures and meeting new people,” said Ms. Schnorr.

After a period of teaching at St. Anthony High School, Ms. Schnorr heard about an open position for a Spanish teacher at Bosco from friends who worked here. Growing up in the Long Beach area, Ms. Schnorr already knew many people from St. John Bosco, so when she learned of the position, she already knew of the school.

“I had friends that went to Bosco. I actually knew Mr. Negro and Mr. Cordero. And when I heard that they had a Spanish position open, I was very excited. Mr. Salmingo and I had worked at a previous school together, and when he said there was an opening, I applied,” said Ms. Schnorr.

Since, Ms. Schnorr has been a mentor and role model to many of her students. She is a great teacher, and students at Bosco have nothing but praise for the job she does.

“She was really helpful as a teacher. She kept the work very practical and constantly related the Spanish that we were learning to reality and situations that we would be faced with in real life, rather than just teaching from the textbook,” said senior Michael Carbone.

In the very short time that Ms. Schnorr has been a member of the Bosco community, she has been allotted a lot of responsibilities. She has gone from the role of a Spanish teacher and Activities Director to Vice Principal of Student Affairs.

“I went from just teaching Spanish to taking over activities. And now, with the Vice Principal of Student Affairs, I’m in charge of leading the three main teams, all of ASB, campus ministry and Christian service,” said Ms. Schnorr. 

Along with everything that she has accomplished, Ms. Schnorr is the first female Vice Principal of Student Affairs, a historic landmark for the Bosco community. To Ms. Schnorr there’s a lot of honor that comes with the position and achievement of being the first woman to become it.

“I think that’s a big deal, to be the first female administrator at Bosco, and I’m honored and humbled. I think it’s good to have a diverse group in the administration to have everyone’s different inputs and perspectives on things,” said Ms. Schnorr.

Ms. Schnorr has done a great job with handling all of her responsibilities and new position. Even though it’s a much larger workload, she has not let up her efforts in the slightest.

“Ms. Schnorr is not only our Vice Principal of Student Affairs. She’s a teacher, a mentor, a friendly peer and a motherly` figure at Bosco. She’s always on the move serving students’ needs. Working alongside Ms. Schnorr is a privilege. I’ve learned to be a leader, public speaker and a better student from her. Any moment I’m with Ms. Schnorr, I know it will be filled with smiles and laughter,” said senior Kaimana Storch.

Ms. Schnorr loves the Bosco community and brotherhood. For her it’s been a great experience and an opportunity for her to learn many new things. When she first came to Bosco, she didn’t really know what she was getting herself into but it’s proven itself to be the right choice for her. 

“I didn’t really know what to expect when I started here because I had never been on the actual campus before,” said Ms. Schnorr.

Ms. Schnorr has worked at Bosco for four years now. She’s watched many students come and go and watched freshmen grow into becoming seniors. She loves watching the students grow up and become young men.

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly shifted the landscape of teaching and Ms. Schnorr’s job. For her, it was very challenging to teach and organize activities.

“It was challenging, not having any students to provide activities for, but when we returned to campus last March, we hit the ground running,” said Ms. Schnorr.

Ms. Schnorr, while only being part of the Bosco community for a short time, has become a key piece of the community. She looks forward to helping students and continuing to watch the community grow every day.

by Oscar Aranda

St. John Bosco’s very own Nathan Corkhill, class of 2009, returned to Bosco to give back to the place he calls home and educate the new generation of Braves.

Mr. Corkhill attended St. John Bosco from 2005 to 2009 and follows a family legacy not too many people are aware of. Mr. Corkhill’s former Bosco teacher, Mr. McMorrow, was his idol when it came to teaching. A combination of Mr. McMorrow’s impact and a time of self-reflection in Europe subsequently led Mr. Corkhill down his path of teaching. 

Mr. Corkhill started off as a volleyball coach at Bosco, and shortly after became an administrator due to a convenient job opening. 

“It was the circumstances that got me here (Bosco), but being back on campus kept me here. No place is like it here, it’s like you are coming home,” said Mr. Corkhill. 

Mr. Corkhill is the Computer Science Pathway Coordinator at Bosco, and before that was a part of the Science Department. While being a teacher in these various departments, he felt that the teaching environment has stayed the same in terms of teacher-student relationships. 

“Teachers are involved in students’ lives that are not seen in other high schools. My favorite math teacher came to all my volleyball games, they took interest in me outside of school which really pushed me to become a teacher,” said Mr. Corkhill.

Mr. Corkhill was also very involved in the Bosco community back in high school where he played football and volleyball. He played football for two years where he was the quarterback and earned his varsity letter by being the holder. Though, it was in his junior year that he decided to focus more on volleyball, where he made First Team All-Trinity League, and was named scholar-athlete for the CIF. 

Not only was he a super athlete, but he also earned valedictorian in his class. After Bosco, Mr. Corkhill attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

“I felt academically prepared, but really the social aspect was beneficial because Bosco really kept me focused,” said Mr. Corkhill.

Mr. Corkhill also felt that Bosco most definitely had more school spirit back in his time as a student, but has stayed the same when it comes to the oratory model. He knows that the core beliefs at Bosco have stayed true throughout the years and are still practiced at Bosco today. 

Mr. Corkhill was also taught by instructors who are still here on campus today, such as Mr. Wippler, Mrs. Hunt, Coach Negro and more. He was also involved in the Christian Service Club where Mr. Mestas worked as his instructor. 

Mr. Corkhill pointed out a big difference between Bosco back then and now through the variety of courses that are available to the students now. There were only 7 AP courses offered back then, compared to 17 now. In addition, there are new courses being introduced that are more suited to help a student find out what they truly enjoy, such as classes in computer science. 

“Try things that you are not good at. In high school, you have many opportunities to take classes you know nothing about. It will pay off to take that jump and take that class you know nothing about,” said Mr. Corkhill