you all at Trinity University next year. I cannot wait see what memories you all add to my ever-forming canvas!
Pax,
Narayan Sundararajan
2014-2015 NJCL Second Vice President
Share the JCLove
Salvete, v’omnes! I know the expected PCD (post-convention depression or, as I prefer to say, post-convention blues) set in hard and lingered. It is my hope that you, in order to keep the torch of Latin passion burning, have lit the fire in classmates and others in your state JCL communities. I am so excited to serve the JCL, and lead with the fellow officers who are the most passionate people with whom I have had the pleasure to work. In various festivities and activities, I encourage you to make everything fun for current members, but also to create a legacy for future members, so they can build on your successes.
I am very happy to be serving as Communications Coordinator— updating the Student Officer pages, giving feedback on the rest of the website, taking minutes, and developing an app.
To make JCL information accessible to current and future Latin and Greek students, we encourage you to create and update websites on the local and state levels. For samples, check out the top websites from last year! If you need help, please contact me. I am happy to report that in addition to the convention app (which is being improved), plans are moving forward for a year round app! I’m looking for what YOU want to see in a year round, JCL-centered app. My email is [email protected]. So, don’t be shy, share the JCLove :)
E corde,
Aliyah Quereshi
2014-2015 NJCL Communications Coordinator
It's Your Time to Run
Salvete Omnes! I am thrilled and truly honored to serve as the 2014-2015 NJCL Mullet, AKA Parliamentarian. My Latin career started in eighth grade when Mr.Volk convinced all of his son’s friends, me being one of them, to take Latin. He told me that it would be a class guaranteed to include my friends, so naturally, being the social butterfly that I am, I signed up with little thought of the matter. Little did I know that what started as one class period a day with my friends would develop into a great passion for the classics and the JCL.
Since then, I have attended four National Conventions and I’m pretty jacked to help plan my fifth. At FPM we voted on some amendments to the Constitution, Bylaws, and Handbook. Hopefully, I will be able to present them to you all at convention.
HEY YOU, reading this Voice article, yes, YOU!! If you have any interest in pursuing a national office at convention this year, please feel free to contact me! I would be happy to discuss potential offices that would fit your skill set, or answer any questions you have about the filing for candidacy process. I can be reached at [email protected] or by phone (701) 361-5833. Please, don’t hesitate to contact me with questions. I’m extremely excited to be serving such an outstanding organization made up of such quality people. I can assure you that the executive board is working hard to bring you the best convention yet. Thanks for your support!
E Corde,
Ashley Blazek
2014-2015 NJCL Parliamentarian
The Journey to Trinity
As a bright-eyed sixth-grader looking forward to the final nine weeks of the school year and a fun-filled summer, I walked into my very first Latin class not knowing what an impact the classics and the organization that celebrates them, the Junior Classical League, would have on my life. Throughout that brief introductory course, I learned about basic Latin vocabulary, grammatical concepts that fascinate me to this day, and riveting mythological tales featuring brash heroes and wily deities. That roughly two-month period culminated in a final project that required me to choose an Olympian to teach my class about and dress as on presentation day. I chose Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, weaving, and strategic warfare. I strive to put her analytical intelligence and creativity to use in my daily life and especially as a historian for the JCL!
After my initial exposure to the classics in that classroom, I continued my classical studies by joining my school’s chapter of JCL that fall and attending my first state convention that spring. I recall how timid and fearful I was at the prospect of going to a convention with predominantly high schoolers; I even considered not attending just days prior! But, as fate would have it, I attended. Screaming at the top of my lungs during spirit, listening to candidates for state office give speeches, and entering a plethora of Academic, Creative, and Graphic Arts competitions had sealed the deal and there was no turning back; I had fallen deeply in love with JCL.
Fast forward several years, and here I am introducing myself as the 2014-2015 NJCL Historian! It is a great honor and privilege to be able to serve you all in this capacity. Over the course of this year, I hope to include even more state specific content in the scrapbook and connect state historians in a productive way that encourages collaboration and an exchange of ideas. I hope to spotlight all aspects of the JCL experience in this year’s scrapbook, ranging from state events to service projects completed throughout the nation to National Convention (of course!). I am so excited to be on this journey with you all and I hope, as I am sure my fellow officers would agree, that this year your JCL experience is fantastic!
Gratias maximas amici,
Sarah Christian
2014-2015 NJCL Historian
New Look, Same Fire
It's impossible to overlook the new face of the Torch. From colors, to fonts, to header and headlines, a new era of Torch publishing is being ushered in.
First, I must clarify a few things that come with these changes. Is the Torch going to be in print this year? Yes, every issue until Summer 2015 inclusive will be published in print in addition to online. Why has the format changed? Publishing the Torch digitally next year will require us to use a new program to format the Torch. In order to give you readers a preview and us publishers a template, we are using this new program to format print Torches this year. We have tried our best to model the new format off of the previous one within the features of this program. In addition, we have tried to make improvements that showcase the more colorful and visual nature of a digital Torch next year. Finally, is this format final? No. We are open to hearing your feedback about the new Torch and we hope to improve it as the year goes on. That way, when the Torch goes digital next year, we start with a template that has been tried and tested by the JCL.
My wise JCL sponsor, Mrs. Nancy Sinacola, once said that the most important characteristic of a classicist is adaptability. "The world keeps changing, but Latin does not." The way JCLers receive information has changed, so we must adapt the timeless classics for them. The fire of the Torch
hasn't gone out. We've simply used it to light new fuel.
Corde aperto,
Amol Punjabi
2014-2015 NJCL Torch:U.S. Editor
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