![Walking through the tunnel created by the cheerleaders and Celebrities, senior Frances Tran smiles as the soccer team is sent off during DEN for their playoff game against Rouse tonight. Tran said the wins against Smithson Valley and Alamo Heights gave the team a morale boost to take on the Raiders tonight. “I know we were not 100% confident in those games,” Tran said. “But, Rouse is a big opponent for sure. We’re definitely going into tonight with a lot of morale [because of the previous wins].”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/frances-tran.jpg)
![Holding a bucket of materials in one hand and a roll of tape in another, anatomy and biology teacher Tyler Terry prepares for a lab. Terry said his proudest moments are when his students are happy to see him. “When I take my wife to a football game or something and a bunch of students want to say hi to me or they like to smile and wave and it just makes me feel good that the students are really kind and supportive of me,” Terry said. “[I’m also] proud when I see students perform really well in their extracurriculars because I can see how hard they’re working in my classes, [so] when I see that they’re also working so hard in other things. Like they’re winning band competitions or they’re getting awards for their theater productions, or I see them put on their choir shows, that’s like, wow, you guys are incredible.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rags-6.png)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901.jpg)
Going the Distance
Freshman to Travel to Australia for Band Performance
June 5, 2018
Summers may be filled with trips to the pool and Netflix marathons, but freshman Will Lambert’s summer will pan out a bit differently. In July, Lambert will be flying for 19 hours with his tenor saxophone to Sydney, Australia to perform at the Sydney Opera House.
This is all possible because Manuel San Luis, his former band director, nominated him for the 2017 Middle School Performance Series. After Lambert submitted an audition, he got accepted into the program and performed at Carnegie Hall with other nationally recognized band students.
Having been accepted into the middle school program, Lambert was given the chance to audition for the 2018 High School Honor Performance Series and given the opportunity to perform in Sydney this summer. Over 12,000 high school students applied, but only 250 of them were selected- one of them was Lambert.
Lambert said that he is thankful to take part in both of these series.
“It’s really rewarding, you grow a lot, you learn a lot,” Lambert said. “I’m just really grateful to have these opportunities in the first place.”
He and the other students will be led by world-class conductors in Sydney, which Lambert said is one of the highlights of this opportunity. It’s a little overwhelming, but I’m really grateful and excited, — Will Lambert
“They bring up things that you have never thought of before,” Lambert said. “It’s a great way to learn.”
Lambert started off on the alto saxophone in sixth grade, but moved to the tenor sax in his seventh-grade year, which he still plays today.
He said that initially, he had little hope of getting into the program, however his family encouraged him throughout the audition process.
“Probably if it was not for family, I would not have tried out,” Lambert said. “I didn’t think I was going to make it, so it was kind of a shock.”
These performances had never been on Lambert’s plan, but he said that he is looking forward to his next big performance.
“I had no idea this would be happening,” Lambert said. “It’s a little overwhelming, but I’m really grateful and excited.”
![Holding her dog, Nova, senior Ariana Balakrishnan poses for her senior pictures while Nova wears a bandana with her college decision. Balakrishnan applied to 18 colleges in total, but she decided on Columbia in the end. “Right before I clicked the button to open Columbia’s letter, I literally looked at the camera and go ‘This is just gonna really suck because I wanted it so bad,’ and I clicked it and all of a sudden you hear trumpets,” Balakrishnan said. “There’s a video that plays when you open it and I actually didn’t watch the video, I just watched the screen go black, because every day of December before ED [Early Decision] I would go on YouTube and watch the acceptance video to manifest it, so immediately when the screen went black, I started screaming and jumping up and down. And my parents in the video are like ‘What are you doing, where’s the letter,’ and I was just screaming ‘I got in, I got in.” I just started crying, and it just felt like everything in the world came together.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/ariana-2-300x217.jpg)
![Catching a ball, junior Alivia Robinson plays at the Cedar Park vs Glenn game. Having played since she was 5 years old, she is dedicated to softball and has committed to UTPB for softball. “When I got my offer it took me a very long time to decide where,” Robinson said. “Softball has always been my dream for college, and UTPB is my fit. When [I committed] I knew I was going to be loved and supported.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Lilly-Adams-3.13aliviaedit-901-600x400.jpg)
