Around Campus
5
An Interview with Mr. Carillo, continued from pg. 4
I think good music can be written in any genre. But there is
good music and bad music. What I don’t particularly like is
when music becomes overly commercial. I don’t really know
how to describe it but I guess the right word is cheesy. I respect
music too much for that. So I make sure that the pieces that I
select for my students don’t borderline on the absurd. I’m not
a big fan of medleys.
JP: So you believe that music should be something profound?
Carillo: I totally believe music is something profound but that
doesn’t mean we’ll only do stoic music, that is not at all what
I’m saying. What I’m saying is when we listen to a piece of
music we know whether it fits that mold or not.
Carillo: Alright. Let’s see. How would your class make your
day? How would you be completely impressed by your class?
Carillo: The chorus class?
JP: Yeah.
Carillo: When we go beyond the learning of notes and
rhythm. That happened today with one of our pieces, where
the students had already mastered the notes and the rhythms.
So today we were able to interpret the music and that’s where
the real beauty of music lies, you know.
JP: It’s more abstract, right?
Carillo: Well it is more abstract, but that’s where the
human emotion...that’s when it becomes this unexplainable
phenomena when you’re actually able to bring a piece of
music to life. That’s the most exciting part of my day, when
I get to do that. But before you do that, everything has to
be learned, the students need to be fully in control of their
part and be secure with it. Only then are we allowed to go
beyond that and make it musical. Today, for example, we
were learning this piece and I was basically explaining to the
students what the piece was about- we were telling the story.
The moment I said that and we started singing the piece it
changed. They were still singing the right notes at the right
time, but the whole spiritual feeling and excitement that I felt
was totally different then prior to explaining to them what the
piece was about. So that’s the musical side of it and it’s very
magical.
JP: (I was so dumbfounded by Mr. Carillo’s incredible
description that I was not able to respond properly and
instead replied lamely): Yeah, for sure....ok, well this is a
funny question- do you have any rituals you do before you
sing. I mean, now that I know you weren’t originally training
to become a singer or chorus teacher...
Carillo: No...I mean, basically I’ll warm them up, obviously.
I’m a stickler for intonation and for perfection as far as clarity.
I don’t like murky music, I think it should be clean. But as far
as rituals, I don’t think I have any.
JP: No? You just do it?
Carillo: I just do it...like Nike.
JP: Haha that’s great. Any tips for aspiring singers or musicians
out there?
Carillo: This is regarding anything you do in life- just give it
your best shot and work hard. Don’t do it half way and great
things will come. If you’re a musician and you really want to
do this, then give it your all.
JP: Do you think there’s a certain aspect of talent when it
comes to music or do you believe that anything can be
achieved from hard work? (Wow that’s a tough one!)
Carillo: Well...I mean...
JP: That’s a hard question, haha.
Carillo: Yeah but I have to be honest with you. I would want
it to be the latter but the reality is that there are students who
are more talented than others. It happens in everything in
life, you know...I’m not a track star! Even if I trained hard
I would still not be a track star, but that doesn’t mean that
someone who may not be as talented as someone else cannot
develop and actually blossom into something spectacular. It
may take a little bit more time and may be more difficult but
anything is possible.
JP: One more question: What’s you’re favorite food in the
cafeteria so far?
Carillo: Haha. Oh boy, I cannot believe the food that is served
here!
JP: It’s pretty good, right?
Carillo: It’s incredible...thus far I’ve enjoyed so many different
foods. I was telling Bob Bruno that he’s my new hero. There
was a chicken the other day, with curry, that was darn good! I
was told today there’s chicken tenders.
JP: Yup! I recommend them, they’re really good.
Carillo: You know what? Food...is like music. There’s
different types of foods served in the cafeteria but the quality
for everything that is done there is very high. You guys are
very lucky and us faculty are lucky as well to partake in this
incredible feast we have everyday.
JP: Well that’s it, thank you.
and thought-provoking answers. Zander Futernick, a current
sophomore, told me that, “If people did a better job of
washing their hands, there would be less disease spreading
around!” and Rowan Daiksel, president of the Red Cross
Club, explained with great enthusiasm that, “It saves lives!”
A topic that came up many times was the importance
of using soap. I think Dave Mendelson puts it best when he
said that, “Soap is the butter in the cake. Not using soap is
like eating a pizza without dough.” Multiple students also
noted that they would like to see more Purell dispensers
set up around school, since they are easy to use and work
well. When asked about why he washes his hands well, avid
student Matthew Deutch replied, “I do it for the goodness
of the community.” However,
not everyone was as enthusiastic
as Matthew. When asked about
the issue, Alex Petros responded
honestly that he feels, “Washing your
hands is overrated,” something that
several other students agreed with.
Although it is important to keep in
mind that many students believe it’s
importance is greatly exaggerated, it
is still safe to conclude that, overall,
the Ransom Everglades community
holds the importance of washing
ones’ hands effectively to a very
high degree.•
Alex Muller, Sophomore
Over the last few weeks, I conducted a survey with the
purpose of answering one of life’s most intriguing questions:
“
Are students at Ransom Everglades washing their hands
effectively?”
I began my research in the boy’s bathroom in downstairs
Ludington. My initial plan was to stand in the boy’s bathroom
and take notes on how well people who came in washed
their hands, if at all. After half a period of standing in the
bathroom with a notepad and pen, I realized that this was a
bad idea. In fact, the only thing I managed to get out of it
was a few extremely awkward encounters. Thus, I turned to
plan B.
Instead of lurking in the bathroom, I decided it was
simply easier to just interview students from different grade
levels. The results were fascinating. In total, I interviewed
50
students--25 boys and 25 girls- assuming that the results
would hold true with a larger number of students as well.
These students were asked to give an anonymous rating on
a scale from one to ten (one being the lowest, ten being the
highest) on how well they wash their hands. After gathering
all of my data, I proceeded to calculate the averages of both
genders. The average rating for the boys was 6.8 out of 10,
while the average rating for the girls was 8.6 out of 10. So, it
is easy to conclude that girls are substantially superior when
it comes to washing their hands, at least according to this
survey. But I couldn’t just stop there. I needed to know why.
I interviewed numerous students and asked them for
their personal opinions regarding the importance of washing
ones’ hands effectively and I received some very interesting
Washing Your Hands: A Survey
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