![Broadcast, yearbook and newspaper combined for 66 Interscholastic League Press Conference awards this year. Yearbook won 43, newspaper won 14 and broadcast took home nine. “I think [the ILPC awards] are a great way to give the kids some acknowledgement for all of their hard work,” newspaper and yearbook adviser Paige Hert said. “They typically spend the year covering everyone else’s big moments, so it’s really cool for them to be celebrated so many times and in so many different ways.”](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/edited-ILPC.jpg)
![Looking down at his racket, junior Hasun Nguyen hits the green tennis ball. Hasun has played tennis since he was 9 years old, and he is on the varsity team. "I feel like it’s not really appreciated in America as much, but [tennis] is a really competitive and mentally challenging sport,” Nguyen said. “I’m really level-headed and can keep my cool during a match, and that helps me play a bit better under pressure.” Photo by Kyra Cox](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/hasun.jpg)
![Bringing her arm over her head and taking a quick breath, junior Lauren Lucas swims the final laps of the 500 freestyle at the regionals swimming competition on date. Lucas broke the school’s 18-year-old record for the 500 freestyle at regionals and again at state with a time of 4:58.63. “I’d had my eye on that 500 record since my freshman year, so I was really excited to see if I could get it at regionals or districts,” Lucas said. “ State is always a really fun experience and medaling for the first time was really great. It was a very very tight race, [so] I was a bit surprised [that I medaled]. [There were] a lot of fast girls at the meet in general, [and] it was like a dogfight back and forth, back and forth.” Photo by Kaydence Wilkinson](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Kaydence-2.7-23-edit-2.jpg)
![As her hair blows in the wind, senior Brianna Grandow runs the varsity girls 5K at the cross country district meet last Thursday. Grandow finished fourth in the event and led the varsity girls to regionals with a third place placement as a team. “I’m very excited [to go to regionals],” Grandow said. “I’m excited to race in Corpus Christi, and we get to go to the beach, so that’s really awesome.” Photo by Addison Bruce](https://cphswolfpack.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/brianna.jpg)
Suburban Safari
Senior With Thirty One Animals Reflects On Love Of Pets, Passion to Pursue Career in Animals
Photo Courtesy of Natalia Peck
Senior Natalia Peck takes a picture with her pet tortoise, Jenga. According to Peck, animals have always been a love of hers, and she cannot recall ever wanting a job that did not deal with animals, and is currently working in reptile husbandry at the Austin Aquarium. “I have wanted to work at the aquarium since I was thirteen,” Peck said. “I wasn’t old enough to work there until I was sixteen last year. I met a really good friend of mine who was working there, and she took me to my first interview there. I wouldn’t have been brave enough to get that job on my own. I work in reptile husbandry, so I take care of the cold blooded reptiles, which are one of my favorite things ever.”
November 27, 2019
It’s not uncommon for the average household to have a dog or a cat, or even a fish. But senior Natalia Peck is the proud owner to thirty one animals, ranging from the average dog, to eight legged creatures and animals with no legs at all.
According to Peck, animals have always been a love of hers, and she cannot recall ever wanting a job that did not deal with animals, and is currently working with reptiles at the Austin Aquarium.
“I have wanted to work at the aquarium since I was thirteen,” Peck said. “I wasn’t old enough to work there until I was sixteen last year. I met a really good friend of mine who was working there, and she took me to my first interview there. I wouldn’t have been brave enough to get that job on my own. I work in reptile husbandry, so I take care of the cold blooded reptiles, which are one of my favorite things ever.”
Instead of driving by an injured animal and ignoring it, Peck said that she tries to rescue any animal in need.
“I rescue animals when I know that I am able to,” Peck said. “If I know that the animal exceeds my expertise area, I take them to a rescue center. I recently took an adult road runner that had been hit by a car to a rescue center, and it totally impacted what I want to do in the future. After taking him there, I realized that I want to work in Wildlife Rehabilitation.”
While Peck said that she loves all of her animals, she does not have a favorite.
“I don’t really have a favorite animal,” Peck said. “They all deserve the same care, but I really love my lizards, I think that they are the most personable.”
Peck, who has over two dozen animals, says that it can definitely be a struggle to handle them all.
“When reptiles get sick they don’t show symptoms until it’s too late. Exotic animal vets are a hit or miss because reptiles are so difficult. I have had more luck saving fish than sick reptiles. It sucks sometimes because I want to save everything, but I can’t always do that. So to prevent sickness, I always have to be on top of their care. I check on them every morning and as soon as I get home. Once a week I’ll have a cleaning day where I change substrate, clean glass, do check ups, scrub water bowls and more. Now it’s just a routine to me, so it usually just takes an hour and a half.”
