Farewell & final reflections of CatlinSpeak’s seniors
By Hadley Cress ‘27 & August Walrod ‘26
Photo by Helena Gougeon.
With another school year coming to an end, the Dialogue for Democracy class, which is behind Catlin Speak’s array of articles, is made up of almost completely seniors. To honor their forthcoming departure we sat down with each one to hear about their last four years and their time in the class. With a theme of expressive, passionate, and storytelling students it's certainly an interesting bunch of students that will be missed dearly.
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Evan Zhang lights up the room with his witty jokes. Since his first year as a part of Dialogue for Democracy, he has brought a creative, unique, and entertaining writing style.
As Co-Editor, Zhang has helped to build the community in the classroom and inspire his peers. He works diligently on every article he writes and is always around to offer help.
Through his articles surrounding Wicked, filled with playful rhyming and intentional word placement, Zhang captures his audience like no other. In his more recent articles, Zhang has explored how CGS students contributed to the nationwide ice protests, and an Opinion piece on how the college board prioritizes profit over student improvement.
As Zhang prepares to head off to Georgetown University, he reflects on his favorite part of Dialogue for Democracy. Zhang cherishes pitch day because of the lighthearted discussion it creates.
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Over the past two years, Priya Klein has written countless articles, ranging from reviews of Google games and the infamous email chain to food insecurity and the Israel-Hamas conflict. While Klein covers a broad range of topics, her tone shifts through them effortlessly.
She handles each of her articles with care, making sure they are detailed and informative, while remaining intriguing.
When reflecting on her time in Dialogue for Democracy, Klein highlighted the community created in the class. Free work days are some of the most memorable moments for Klein because of all of the playful conversations that come up.
While she is preparing to head off for college, Klein will always remember the CGS library and all of the memories that were created in the space, even eating food.
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In only a year in Dialogue for Democracy, Prisha Garg offered an open and inspiring perspective throughout the classroom. Her articles spanned from Bridgerton to explaining the history of unethical experiments in the medical field. With each article, Garg weaved in her own style of writing which made the pieces unique.
Throughout the editing process, Garg would provide careful feedback that helped to encourage her peers, and lit up the classroom during free work periods.
Over her time at CGS, Garg has appreciated the many CGS traditions, especially as a senior. Each tradition helped build community throughout her class, including senior skip day, and senior sunrise.
While Garg prepares to continue her education at Boston College, she reflected on her favorite memories within Dialogue for Democracy, including the energy and community in the class, as well as pitch day because of all of the conversations it sparks.
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Meret Pajkic has lit up the classroom as a part of Dialogue for Democracy. With each article she covers, Pajkic explores a unique angle, showing her clear passion for the topic.
Throughout her time as a part of CatlinSpeak, Pajkic has helped build a welcoming community that encourages new ideas.
For her, a favorite memory from the class is when Helena Gougeon, the dialogue for democracy teacher, went on a tangent surrounding pickle ball and why it should be the C&C sport during the question of the day. To Pajkic, moments like this show the close collaboration between the class, and how involved everyone is.
As Pajkic is preparing to head off to college, she remembers the unique aspects of CGS that make it so special. To her, the size of the school makes it easy to talk to anyone across grades, and really helps to build the community.
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Within Luna Flores’ first year as a part of the CatlinSpeak community, she has written a variety of impactful articles covering countless topics. From student-centered articles surrounding caffeine intake to articles about the beloved Powell’s Bookstore, Flores has added her own spin on each piece.
Flores is not only an impactful student in Dialogue for Democracy, but also the CGSA Vice President. Through this role, Flores has left a long-lasting impact on the CGS community that will be cherished even after she departs from the school.
While reflecting on her time at CGS, Flores mentioned her shining immersive experiences. She participated in two years of Shakespeare in the park, as well as a trip to Costa Rica, where she got to learn about sea turtles and grow closer to her fellow classmates.
Her effortless ability to inspire her classmates with her creativity and work ethic only adds to the class. As Flores heads off to college, her continued impact on the community will be missed.
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In Lucia Alvarez’s one year in Dialogue for Democracy, she has made an amazing impact. Her writing covers countless topics ranging from artificial intelligence to student civil engagement. With each article, Alvarez has inspired CGS students and continued the conversation about new topics.
Through CatlinSpeak, Alvarez has found a new voice that allows her to reach the student body in new ways. She has continued to write about topics that she is passionate about, including how artificial intelligence can be harmful to students when used as a replacement for a therapist.
Within the course, one of Alvarez’s favorite aspects is the three pieces of praise that are given by each classmate at the end of each publishing cycle. This tradition helps create a community within Dialogue for Democracy and isn’t something that is often found in other courses.
As Alveraz heads off to college, she reflects on her time at CGS. A special memory for her was homecoming, where everyone is very spirited and the community is really brought together.
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August Walrod has brought curiosity and passion to the Dialogue for Democracy class. Throughout his past year in the course, he has explored topics surrounding everything from extracurricular opportunities for students to the precious parks in Portland.
Within the class, Walrod has helped to build the community that makes the class so special. One of his memories from the class was reviewing other people’s articles because of the bonding opportunities it offers.
He offers a unique angle on each article and handles the peer editing process with care. His feedback helps to shape his peers' writing, and his encouraging nature uplifts the class.
As Walrod prepares for college, he reflects on some of his core memories at CGS, which include his freshman year immersive, kayaking through the San Juan islands. This trip furthered his love for nature and brought him closer to people in the CGS community.
He plans to pursue a career in urban planning & land use development because of the systematic impact the built environment can have on people's lives. Studying public policy at Duke University he is excited to combine studies across sociology, philosophy, and economics.
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Andy Han has taken D4D for two years and is known for his well-researched and unique articles. Having written multiple articles on conspiracy theories, instead of focusing on conspiracies themselves, Andy is interested in the thought process behind what makes people believe them.
His approach is to focus on “reasons not to believe in conspiracies,” and he aims to show how “what makes these reasons more interesting and more incredible than what these conspiracy theories are proposing.”
Heading off to Columbia University next year, Han is excited to delve into continental philosophy, which focuses less on logic and more on “the experience of the human condition.” He also plans to pursue his interest in film as he says it is “heavily related to continental philosophy.”
Han strives to be earnest and authentic in his pursuits; certainly, he has been in his wonderful work in Dialogue for Democracy. He says that through the class “I was able to develop my voice through writing and have more opinions and stand more on my own.”
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Nico Igarashi has had an explosive year as a Catlinspeak writer, publishing “OPINION: The myth of the matcha man — why you should stop calling men performative,” a favorite of many, including Igarashi himself. He has consistently aimed to try new ideas in CatlinSpeak, having created all of his graphics himself.
Fascinated with urban design and how our built environment affects us, Igarashi plans to go into the urban studies space in college and beyond. He cares for making the world a better place and as an artistic person also a more beautiful and aesthetic one as well.
From his passion in music and art to his yearlong hard work at Hoppa Pizza, Nico has consistently pushed himself to try new things. He reminisces on memories of climbing Dog Mountain at the end of sophomore year on a hot and muddy day for immersives. He highlights how enjoyed just being in the space and in community.
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Krish Caulfield’s writing at CatlinSpeak is consistently elegant and intriguing. His writing style is detailed while maintaining a nice flow. At the forefront of his writing is storytelling. Whether telling readers about the lost traditions of CGS, the desks of Catlin teachers, the behind-the-scenes for last year's greatest assemblies, or Catlin teachers’ best recipes, his articles center around the community’s history and accomplishments.
He also employs storytelling into his other endeavors, like videography, where he shoots and edits annual hype videos for the soccer and basketball teams. One of his favorite creative projects was creating a music video with friends last year during immersives. He plans to continue this passion in college and beyond as well as begin a new project for his senior project where he will create a documentary on his grandparents' immigration story.
Caulfield explains that the Dialogue for Democracy class has expanded his writing ability due to the unique style and structure that newspaper writing follows. He says that “You have to be really diligent about the way you're explaining things and making sure you're giving people the full picture.”
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Maddie Snyder highlights Modern Middle East as a favorite class of hers as she is able to hear about the political history of an area she otherwise had not learned much about in school.
As Co-Editor-in-Chief of Dialogue for Democracy, Snyder now finishes her third year of taking the class. She explains that she loves how student-driven the class is, with students being able to choose the topic of their articles. She also enjoys the community the class builds and learning about her peers through reading their articles.
She adds that “I really don't think you have to be a good writer to do a dialogue.” Instead, Dialogue for Democracy is more for students who have something to say and who love storytelling. Snyder has been a storyteller herself since 5th grade and loves the puzzle of refining her initial drafts into full-fledged stories.
She has also leaned into being a leader, not just in Dialogue for Democracy, but also in her captainship of the basketball team. She reminisces about overnight tournament trips with the team as well as senior night as a particularly emotional and lovely time.
Snyder has written too many articles to categorize them into any genre, except that they exemplify a level of detailed storytelling that takes years of practice, dedication to the craft, and pure curiosity.
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Aspiring to become a system-focused mechanical engineer, Ariana Bajaj exemplifies risk-taking and hard work as a CatlinSpeak writer. She notes that she doesn’t think she has ever been rejected as much as she was while pitching her ideas for Dialogue for Democracy, but it seems to have consistently guided her towards enthralling and impressive articles.
Writing on topics like Astrology she researches and edits meticulously in order to make sure the angle she wants to portray comes through in her writing. She notes that this process she has repeatedly done for her articles has helped her writing more than anything else. She says that this learning is applicable to so many other writing formats, even writing emails where “you have to pitch something.”
Bajaj is known as a funny and lighthearted person, with her saying that shows like “The Office” match her humor. She also is an avid enjoyer of the TV show “Friends,” as well as the movies “White Chicks” and “Tangled.”
Recently, she has devoted her new found second semester senior free time towards aiding others in their assassination missions for Senior Assassin. As her current favorite hobby, watch out for her hiding in the bushes outside your house!
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An expressive writer and thoughtful person, Eliana Yoken has worked committedly to sharing stories as well as learning about new topics through research and interviews. She notes that taking the classes has helped her get better at receiving feedback.
Yoken especially enjoyed writing her most recent article on pilgrimages as she soon heads off to a pilgrimage of her own in Japan. Preparing for the trip through various group hikes she has greatened her appreciation for nature and the Oregon outdoors.
She is also excited to be in the Midwest next year for college as she plans to take an array of unique classes ranging from business, to psychology, to political science. One class at Catlin she particularly enjoyed was her Palma Seminar: This Mortal Coil as she approached the topics of life and death with a new perspective and found insight into the role of religion in shaping people's lives.
As someone who loves to travel, she says she plans to study abroad in college and it seems that just as in Catlin Speak she will put curiosity and the forefront of her experiences.
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With all of the 13 seniors commemorated only one student remains unmentioned, Hadley Cress ‘27. As the only junior, Cress will be taking the class again next year and will serve as Co-Editor-In-Chief!
Hopefully, she will be joined by a new wave of Dialogue for Democracy students who will rise up to fill the space that this year's graduating seniors create. Above all, we hope that Catlin Speak continues to foster the brilliant storytelling, news writing, and fun traditions that have been built from year after year of committed student work.