The transition from middle school to high school was not always easy, especially coming from a small school, but for Brody Hodges (9) it was a smooth transition.
“I feel like I was told that it would be a lot harder to adjust than it actually was,” Hodges said. “Being in the MedSci Academy, it feels kind of similar because you’re going to classes with a lot of the same people, and that’s how KTEC was.”
Orlando Zetina Gutierrez (9) and Hodges went to school together since they were in kindergarten.
“Brody, in middle school, he was kind of awkward,” Gutierrez said. “He didn’t really talk to a lot of people besides me. Now in high school, I feel like he’s getting with older kids who also share interests with him and he’s making a lot of friends.”
Hodges was also involved in other school activities outside of being in the Medical Sciences Academy. He was part of the School Culture group in Student Council, he was in choir and he was involved in theater.
“I guess my friends kind of forced me to do it, but I ended up enjoying it so I just stayed with it,” Hodges said.
I met a lot of great people overall, it was just a fun experience.[/pullquote]Hodges felt that his middle school activities were different from high school.
“The shows here are so different because it’s a lot more technical work, it’s more official and serious than they were at KTEC,” Hodges said.
Hodges had to learn how to balance school and theater.
“I just save time, once theater is over I set a time to do homework, like look over music and stuff, it’s not hard if you get used to it,” Hodges said.
His first high school show experience was “Between the Lines” at Bradford.
“It was a really good experience, I met a lot of great people, it was overall just a fun experience,” Hodges said.
During a break at rehearsal for “Between the Lines,” Hodges and another cast member from Harborside, Ethan Bain (12), decided they would sit down and start recording themselves behind the scenes. They decided to post the videos on Youtube and called their channel “Two Lads and Sarah.”
Sarah Berendes (11) was asked to be interviewed for one of the segments and then was permanently promoted to be one of the hosts.
“We both do theater at Bradford, and sometimes we didn’t really have a ton to do at rehearsal or we’d be on break and we’d be like, ‘I wish I had something to do right now.’ So, we said, ‘well what if we just talked on camera’ and just talk about whatever,” Berendes said. “They got mics and a ring light and they invited people on and talked to different people about whatever topic they wanted.”
Hodges took it upon himself to design the logo for the YouTube account. He wanted to attempt something he had never tried before.
“I’ve always liked art, I haven’t really done digital art before and the logo was my first time trying it,” Hodges said.
