A school newspaper’s job is to represent and serve their community. The Scratching Post is committed to cultural diversity and representing the various identities at VHHS. Thus, we have included a part of this story in English and Russian. Moving forward, we’ll look for opportunities to include stories in other languages, with the hope of celebrating the 32 languages spoken at VHHS.

You’re scrolling through the Senior Class of 2024 Instagram, checking out your peers’ secondary plans. Someone’s studying business, another person chemistry, some even psychology. Then, when you least expect it… pastry arts? Music production? Mortuary science? Now you’re possibly amazed and wondering what it is like to pursue these careers.

 Every major can have depth and be unique, but there are certainly some majors you don’t see that often. Some students plan their paths around the unconventional and new, and the stories behind their passions and choices can be very interesting.

Ethan Weiner – Music Production

Ethan Weiner (12) has always felt a connection to music. The bass, synthesizers, and breakbeats of electronic music have always soothed him during times of happiness and hardship. 

Weiner’s strong relationship with music is emphasized through a hardship he experienced a few years ago. During this period of time, Weiner found solace in electronic music and immediately knew that’s what he was supposed to do for a living – bring the emotions he felt while listening to music to life. 

Entirely self-taught, Weiner turned a moment of difficulty into his life’s passion. Weiner will be attending the College of Lake County in the fall to major in music production, which he describes as being a process of exploration.

“For me, music production is about trial and error: tweaking synths to get the exact sound you want, searching and experimenting with different [music] samples, melodies, and more,” Weiner said. “Getting stuck and frustrated is a guarantee, but there’s always a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The exact style Weiner explores the most with is Drum and Bass, which is heavily based on fast drum loops, heavy bass lines, and synthesizers, a musical instrument that generates audio signals. To Weiner, what makes Drum and Bass special is that each producer of the genre has their own unique style and touch to the music. 

Weiner hopes to find an audience who appreciates his music. Being able to share his music with people who enjoy it would be a step toward his long-term goal – working at a studio under a record label. 

“All I’m doing is chasing my dream,” Weiner said. 

Hannah Gillette – Welding

Hannah Gillette’s (12) passion for welding grew the more she watched her stepdad weld semi-trucks in sixth grade. This new interest inspired Gillette to attend Tech Campus, a vocational school in Grayslake, during her senior year to figure out if that is what she was meant to do. 

At Tech Campus, Gillette explored collision and repair, and welding. Recently, Gillette has been working on fenders — the piece that frames an automobile’s wheel. Gillette puts dents in it, sands it, does Bondo work (smoothing out uneven parts of a piece), welds it, and paints it. 

“This is definitely something I can see myself doing for the rest of my life, knowing that I’m going to be happy with it, too,” Gillette said. “The next two years, I will be attending College of Lake County…I want to do structural welding, but I might have to do pipe welding for a little bit because it’s a starting thing. After that, I hope to just get into a business or a job site that I really like and that I can excel in.”

An aspect that differentiates Gillette’s path from typical welders is that she is a woman. According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics, in 2021, women only made up about 6 percent of welders in the workforce. 

Given that women are underrepresented in this field, Gillette strives to recruit more women to go into welding and teach them that it’s okay to go to trade school in a male-dominated field. 

Gillette, along with her friend Melanie Moreno (12), who attends Zion Benton Township High School, were the only women at Tech Campus awarded a $1,000 scholarship for going into trade school. Philanthropic Educational Organization, which partnered with Tech Campus, aims to empower women pursuing higher education by awarding female-identifying students scholarships. 

“I want to empower other women [so they know] you can do a trade, and it’s not a bad thing. If you have a passion, whether it be work, school, or something [else], just go for it, and don’t be worried about what other people are going to say,” Gillette said. “At the end of the day, it’s your happiness that’s going to come first. And it’s [the] life you’ll live for the rest of your life. Not somebody else’s life.”

Gillette recalls experiences she’s had while welding due to her being a woman, such as men underestimating her skills and ‘mansplaining’ what she’s known how to do for years. 

“I’ve had a lot of guys look down on me and say ‘this isn’t a woman’s field, you’re not going to make it’, [even though] I have excelled more in my class than all the guys in there, and gotten more awards,” Gillette said. “I think being a woman in this field and trying to get more women into it just shows that women can do just as much as men.” 

Daniel Santiago – Baking and Pastry Arts

While Daniel Santiago (12) usually attended to a pile of dishes or ran errands around his aunt’s kitchen, the warmth of her cooking filled the air. The smell of fresh pastries could only allude to the doughy, chocolatey brownies, or the soft cupcakes topped with sweet, silky frosting he’d have the pleasure of trying as soon as they were done baking. 

Having grown up helping his family in the kitchen and trying new recipes together, Santiago’s passion for baking grew over the years. He decided to attend Tech Campus in his junior year, which solidified his plans of pursuing pastry arts as a career. 

“[At Tech Campus] we do catering events, and we get to make the menus. We also do big orders,” Santiago said.

Santiago plans on working at a restaurant or bakery after graduating, but he also has a plan to travel around the world to learn about cultural dishes and desserts. He also has a business called @dannys.sweets on Instagram.

 Although Santiago likes to celebrate his Mexican culture through his cooking, such as baking flan, he strives to get out of his comfort zone and expand his family’s taste to different cultural flavors. 

Santiago values the freedom baking allows him. Santiago also values experimenting with new recipes, cultural ingredients, and introducing the people around him to new types of pastries.

“I like sharing [my baking] with family, friends, or just making them happy and having them eat my [pastries],” Santiago said.

Violet Cairo – Mortuary Science

Violet Cairo (12) will be attending the College of Lake County in the fall to major in Mortuary Science. She will be one of the only VHHS graduates to ever pursue this major, according to College Counselor Rebecca Bellito.

Though some people can be taken aback when first hearing about her major, Mortuary Science is Cairo’s passion. Six months ago, Cairo was introduced to a family friend who is a mortician. She got to accompany them to work and discovered that’s what she wants to pursue in life.

“Not a lot of people go into [Mortuary Science]. I knew that as I went into my senior year, but I didn’t really have a major that I wanted to go into,” Cairo said. “Nothing really excited me, except for Mortuary Science.”

Science, specifically human anatomy, has always fascinated Cairo. What drew Cairo into this field was that it is unconventional — it doesn’t require social interaction, and it is not a desk job, which is not a work environment Cairo wants. 

Cairo hopes to be a full-time mortician in a funeral home in either Illinois or Colorado. Regarding people’s reactions when learning about Cairo’s major, it is usually a wave of shock, followed by understanding.

“[People get] very shocked. They’re like, ‘Whoa, I’ve never heard anyone do that before.’ Ultimately [they’re] saying ‘good for you, we need people to do that,’” Cairo said.

Some people have stigmas regarding dead bodies and being around them. Cairo believes this is a key factor in people’s shocked reaction. 

“Dead things gross people out — we’re all used to seeing living, working bodies, so seeing a body that is not moving freaks them out,” Cairo said. “I think that’s why people are very scared of going into this field. My mentality is that all people must die eventually, it’s just nature.”

Danyil Zinkevych – Graphic Design

Danyil Zinkevych (12) will be attending the College of Lake County in the fall to major in Graphic Design. 

Zinkevych’s interest in the arts traces back to when he lived in Ukraine. At VHHS, Zinkevych was able to explore graphic design much further by taking classes such as digital art, graphic design and digital photography.

To Zinkevych, the digital art class allowed him to develop his skills the most. Being in that class was enjoyable to him because he loves creating illustrations from his imagination.

But Zinkevych’s art doesn’t only reflect his imagination. His art is a medium for social engagement.Through his pieces, Zinkevych protests themes like environmental pollution and alcoholism.

At CLC, he’ll pursue Graphic Design, since Zinkevych sees it as an interesting field with a good salary. He also takes an interest in stop-motion animation, but to him, that’s definitely a more tiresome job, and Artificial Intelligence can be a potential threat to job opportunities.

Zinkevych has defined his pursuit of art at VHHS as a time of exploration and growth, and will continue to speak out about social problems through his art.

Даниил Зинкевич – Графический дизайн

Даниил Зинкевич (12 класс) осенью поступит в колледж Лейк Каунти (CLC) по специальности «Графический дизайн».

Его интерес к искусству зародился еще с тех пор, как он жил в Украине. В VHHS он смог изучить его гораздо глубже, посещая такие занятия, как цифровое искусство, графический дизайн и цифровая фотография.

Для Зинкевича занятия цифровым искусством позволили ему максимально развить свои навыки. Ему было приятно учиться в этом классе, потому что он любит создавать иллюстрации, используя свое воображение.

Но искусство Зинкевича отражает не только его воображение. Его искусство является средством социального взаимодействия: в своих произведениях Зинкевич протестует против таких тем, как загрязнение окружающей среды и алкоголизм.

В CLC он будет заниматься графическим дизайном, поскольку Зинкевич рассматривает его, как интересную сферу с хорошей зарплатой. Он также интересуется покадровой анимацией, но для него это определенно более утомительная работа, а искусственный интеллект может стать потенциальной угрозой для возможностей трудоустройства.

Зинкевич определил свой путь в VHHS как время исследований и роста и продолжит говорить о социальных проблемах через свое искусство.

Veronika Dmitrieva – Visual Arts

Taking art classes at VHHS opened a whole new world of possibilities for Veronika Dmitrieva (12). Dmitrieva’s love for art traces back to Russia, where she took art classes as a kid.

Dmitrieva recalls art classes in Russia being very strict – theoretical studies and practices were often favored over creative freedom, and teachers controlled much of a student’s work. At VHHS, the freedom to choose whatever project Dmitrieva was interested in let her completely immerse herself in art and forget her surroundings. 

Art allows Dmitrieva to bring her imagination to life and escape from reality. Whether she’s drawing a portrait or making a keychain out of clay, her creative energy is always flowing. 

A theme Dmitrieva tries to incorporate in her art is psychology. As a younger child in Russia, she found it fascinating to understand why kids decided to act a certain way or be mean. She sees psychology as a possibility in her future, especially if it’s blended with art, such as art therapy. 

Dmitrieva is still deciding what exact career to follow. To Dmitrieva, with artificial intelligence usage on the rise jobs can be harder to find, so fields like stop motion make her wary. Dmitrieva knows that whatever career she decides to pursue; be it a surrealist painter or an animator, she’s meant to follow her heart’s calling. 

Вероника Дмитриева – Искусство

Занятия искусством в VHHS открыли для Вероники Дмитриевой (12 класс) совершенно новый мир возможностей. Любовь Дмитриевой к искусству восходит к России, где в детстве она посещала уроки рисования.

Дмитриева вспоминает, что уроки рисования в России были очень строгими: часто отдавалось предпочтение теоретическим занятиям и практикам перед творческой свободой, а учителя контролировали большую часть работ учеников. В VHHS свобода выбора любого проекта, который интересовал Дмитриеву, позволила ей полностью погрузиться в искусство и забыть обо всем, что окружает ее в момент творчества.

Искусство позволяет Дмитриевой воплотить в жизнь свое воображение и уйти от реальности. Рисует ли она портрет или делает брелок из глины, ее творческая энергия всегда течет неиссякаемым потоком.

Тема, которую Дмитриева пытается включить в свое искусство, — это психология. Когда она была еще ребенком в России, ей было интересно понять, почему дети решают вести себя определенным образом или ведут себя грубо. Она рассматривает психологию как возможность реализовать себя в будущем, особенно если она будет сочетаться с искусством, например арт-терапией.

Дмитриева пока решает, какую именно профессию ей выбрать. Она интересуется покадровой анимацией, но опасается, что искусственный интеллект может отнять у людей рабочие места. Дмитриева знает, что какую бы профессию она ни выбрала, будь то художник-сюрреалист или художник-аниматор, она должна следовать зову своего сердца.

Orlando Alas and Holly Faitsch  – Aviation 

Both Orlando Alas (12) and Holly Faitsch (12) will attend Southern Illinois University in the fall to major in aviation.

Having parents in the aviation industry only strengthened Alas’ passion for airplanes, as Alas recalls being fascinated about aviation ever since his early childhood. 

Alas earned his pilot’s license when he was 14 years old. On March 29, 2024, Alas was able to pilot a plane without an instructor for the first time. In the future, he hopes to work as a pilot for an airline company outside of the United States to get a glimpse of other cultures. The prospect of being free while flying fascinates Alas. 

“The best thing [about aviation] is just the feeling of freedom. You’re out there by yourself, you and your little airplane, in a pretty much limitless sky. I cannot describe the feeling. It’s just pure happiness,” Alas said.

On the other hand, Faitsch discovered her love for aviation while reading a book about Amelia Earhart in second grade. The possibility of being a pilot stayed in the back of her head until sophomore year, when Faitsch researched the career further.

“I’ve been on planes ever since I was little. I get that feeling inside of me – the butterflies and the excitement every single time the plane takes off… that’s what I want to do. Nothing else makes me happy like flying does,” Faitsch said.

According to the Centre For Aviation, in 2022 only 9.6 percent of women in the US were licensed pilots by the Federal Aviation Administration, compared to 6.1 percent in 2002. Faitsch is happy that the number of women pilots has been growing. 

Being asked for free flights is a common reaction for both Alas and Faitsch when telling people about their career goals. They also share the sentiment of having instantly felt at home while touring SIU’s campus – the feeling of knowing immediately that that’s where they belong.

Andrew Ruditskiy –  Going Abroad 

Andrew Ruditskiy (12) will be spending his college years abroad in the United Kingdom. He will be majoring in electrical engineering – Ruditskiy’s love for engineering traces back to his childhood.

“I’ve been a massive nerd my whole life,” Ruditskiy said. “I love consumer tech, so I’ve decided that the natural progression would be learning the science behind it, and then one day, being able to produce my own.”

To Ruditskiy, studying in Europe seems like the best option. He explained that though he has good test scores, his GPA would put him at what he perceives as a disadvantage when applying to schools in the U.S.

Ruditskiy explained that, in Europe, test scores, especially from AP classes, are favored over GPA; hence, he was able to get into a Top 50 school in the world according to the US News 2022-2023 Best Global Universities Rankings. Tuition prices are also more affordable to him than out-of-state tuition in the United States. 

“British schools aren’t like how we have it here, where you just get it then you go. If you get in, they agree to send you an offer to go there, then you have to complete a checklist of stuff like [test scores],” Ruditskiy explained. 

Ruditskiy explained that he is technically committed to both Edinburgh and Manchester University. In the United Kingdom, after a student “gets into” a university, they still have to meet a few requirements to secure their place and actually be allowed to attend the school. Still, Ruditskiy counts on attending Colorado State University in case he decides not to take up on either offer. 

One of Ruditskiy’s older brothers introduced him to the idea of going abroad to the U.K. After that, he independently sought information about the application process, since neither school resources nor the U.K. school’s website offered him enough information or support. 

“It’s a weird application process. Over there, [essays are] a lot more direct. You give what major you’re doing, why you want to do it…why you’re so passionate about it, and why you’d be a good pickup. It’s a lot more like jobs, interview-wise,” Ruditskiy said.

Additionally, to Ruditskiy, a benefit of moving abroad is being able to immerse in a new culture. 

“I can’t imagine spending more time in the Midwest. I like the [United Kingdom]; there’s way more interesting stuff to do [than in the Midwest]. There’s more culture. I also don’t really mind leaving America,” Ruditskiy said.