![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)
![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)
Name: Safe Haven (PG-13)
Director: Lasse Hallström
Rating: 9.5/10
Now playing at: Regal Lakeline Mall 9, Cinemark Cedar Park, Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek, and Galaxy Moviehouse and Eatery.
From the author of the best-selling novels and well known films “The Notebook,” “The Last Song,” and “Dear John,” comes “Safe Haven,” which follows the story of a girl fleeing her troubled past and starting a new life in the small beach town of Southport, North Carolina. The movie, whose director was also the director of Dear John, was sequentially perfect and not rushed or lacking information as in other Sparks movies. The plot, however, was the highlight of the movie. The director found a clever way to make the plot twist and turn in directions that were unseen to the audience. The characters also had depth and personality, thanks to Josh Duhamel and Julianne Hough. They added a sort of reality and believability to the past of the characters as well as their perspectives.
As the movie was an excellent choice, so is the book. Written by Nicholas Sparks, the book differs from the movie in a few minor ways. For example in the movie Katie is a brunette and dies her hair blonde, while in the book it is reversed. Other small things like names, appearances and such are changed. The book, like many other Sparks novels, is perfectly crafted and beautifully written. Sparks incorporates real-life problems and elaborates the histories and character traits of his characters. The book was more in depth then the movie, as most are, and was overall a great read.
While watching the movie in theatres, the songs played in many scenes of the movie caught my ear. After getting home, I downloaded the album and have had it on repeat since. The album contains beautiful songs that bring back memories of summer and the beach, as in the movie. My favorite song of the album is “Heart’s Content” by Brandi Carlile. They played the song during the scene where Katie and Alex dance in his store. It is a sweet and catchy song, the kind that will be stuck in your head for a while after listening to it. The album was a great purchase and was not at all a let down from the movie or book.
“Safe Haven” is a great three part story that expands with every venture into a different media. The movie, book, and album are all noteworthy and to leave one out would be to simply disregard a wonderful work of art.
