It’s the second half, and the boys’ JV basketball team (3-7) is just starting to get in rhythm. But only getting energized towards the end of the game is normal for the team, as they have three buzzer beating wins so far this season, and have made a name for themselves as a comeback team when they have won.

Wearing jersey number 43, senior Olivia Nono’s presence captivates on the court as she selflessly leads her team. Standing poised and at the ready, she calls out to teammates, giving direction, and then sprints, blasting ahead of the crowd, as she rushes to defend the basket.

Imagine: You are a freshman at the University of Maryland. Senior year of high school, you applied to a range of colleges, scouring state schools and private universities for a competitive, top-ranked swim team. You chose your state school, and, with a sizeable amount of scholarship money under your belt, you suit up for your first practice of the season.

There was a loose ball, and a pileup ensued. The play moved to the other end of the court, and everyone in the stands followed the action, except for Dawn Smith, senior Gabrielle Smith’s mother, who was focused on her daughter. Blazer shooting guard Gabrielle didn’t get up and follow the play like everyone else. She lay on the gym floor curled up in a ball.

The ventures of most third graders end up abandoned with gobs of Elmer’s glue and a few bucks to serve as mementos of far flung dreams of greatness. When now freshmen Zeke Wapner, Ben Miller, Michael Untereiner and Ian Askew decided to start a band in the third grade, not much more was expected of them.

Exchange student compares his time in Eritrea, Germany and the United State

Link began his quests at Death Mountain in 1986 when he first rescued Princess Zelda from Ganon, the Prince of Darkness, and saved the Kingdom with a Silver Arrow, but most video-gaming Blazers began their quests in a basement with a GameCube ten years ago. It's more or less the same story for junior Fen Kemp and senior Jack Vaughan as they discuss their experiences playing "The Legend of Zelda" over lunch.

Those new flowerpots by Blair’s front door are not just there to mark a new school year; they are there to announce the coming of a new principal and the changes that she is bringing with her. Principal Renay Johnson has big plans in mind and is putting some in action as she begins to leave her mark on Blair.

For most Blazers, the lunch line is safe, inviting and full of options. However for me, that line is perilous and fraught with danger.

With the national average in student loan debt quickly outpacing the national average in credit card debt, it is clear that the high cost of college is not a problem that the country can afford to ignore.

Is print media dying? It’s a question that professional publications have struggled with over the past decade. In 2009, the Baltimore Examiner went all-online, and newspapers like the New York Times continue to debate how much of their content should be made free to the public online.

Blazers recall the legendary “Beef Patty Man,” the elusive entrepreneur who brought a little taste of the Caribbean to Blair in the form of beef patties. The Beef Patty Man would sell his goods at prices that would fly up to fifteen dollars a patty, but Blazers would empty their wallets for this exotic lunch. But now that the Beef Patty Man is gone, it’s up to Blazers to find their own patty paradise at a much cheaper cost.