By Alexis Dalton
Welcome to the article about the most important question on our annual Valentine’s Day survey… who is your senior crush?
These six seniors were voted the top 2023 Senior Crushes by Lovett students. Keep reading to get to know them…
Mason Ball
Mason said he felt “pretty good” about being one of the top senior crushes. “It’s nothing that I’m holding too close to heart,” he told me. “I’m not letting it get to my head or anything.”
Mason remembers his freshman senior crush as being his pal, Julia Balser. “She was kinda a bunch of our senior crushes back when we were in ninth grade,” he said.
Mason spends a lot of his time playing lacrosse, hanging out with his friends and girlfriend, and playing Xbox.
He’s been playing lacrosse since kindergarten, and he’s committed to play at Denison University in Ohio.
His commitment process wasn’t easy (commitment is NEVER easy). It started in ninth grade and went all the way to the past summer. “It was a lot of going to tournaments and traveling, but I’m glad to have it over with,” he said.
He couldn’t think of any new hobbies he has, but some not-new hobbies he enjoys are hunting, fishing, and golfing. He told me he doesn’t golf as much as he’d like to, but he tries to do it when he can.
He has two dogs, a Golden Retriever, Hailey, and an English Setter, Pio (pronounced pie-oh… I probably didn’t spell that right… sorry Mason).
Mason’s favorite food is steak and pasta with pesto sauce. “It’s a good little combo,” he noted.
He and his girlfriend just rewatched the Harry Potter movies. His personal favorite is the fourth, Goblet of Fire. I told him how I’ve read the books but not seen the movies. He laughed and said that he’s “kinda the opposite.”
His current favorite song is Highway 20 Ride by Zach Brown band.
Mason said the three words that best describe him are laid-back, extroverted, and responsible (or a leader).
As you know, Mason is one of this year’s sports ultras, and “it’s been a lot of fun.” He explained that it was more work than he expected it to be, but he’s “been up for the challenge,” and he’s had fun going to so many games.
Staying loyal to his love of Harry Potter, if he could go on a date with one famous person, he would go get steak and pasta with pesto sauce with Emma Watson.
Amia Georges
Amia was surprised to be one of this year’s senior crushes. “I bullied the senior crush last year for getting it, so I guess it’s like karma,” she told me. I’m not going to take offense from that, but maybe I should…
She recalled one of her past senior crushes to be Ralsten Goldfarb when she was a freshman because “I had Orchestra with him”.
Though she doesn’t have much free time, she uses the little she has to binge movies and TV shows. Her most recent TV show is Stranger Things, which she just started, acknowledging that she was “really late.”.
The most recent movie she watched was How to Lose a Guy in 10 days and she noted that it’s definitely worth the hype.
Amia doesn’t currently play any sports, but she used to cheer and ice skate. “I (ice skated) just for fun…” she laughed and told me that she was too scared to compete. She stopped cheer and ice skating to make room in her schedule for theater. “It’s a huge time commitment,” she said, referencing theater. “We’re there until 6:45 so it got to be a lot.”
Her current theatrical journey is Into The Woods, a modern take on classic fairy tales, where Cinderella and others find themselves “chasing their Wishes through the woods” (according to @thelovettschool instagram post). Amia is playing the role of Cinderella’s stepmother.
When she’s not acting, Amia and her friends do “style analysis” of different movies. They look into details like what the different colored clothing means, and they also enjoy restyling characters in movies.
“We restyled the live-action Monster High,” she told me. “They made Lagoona kinda unicornish… it looked like everything she was wearing was from Justice.”
Amia told me how she and her friends also enjoy presentation night, saying that she “loves a good presentation night,” which is when you are given a theme and everyone makes a slideshow presentation about it.
Their last Slide Night theme was “What Crime Each Disney Princess Would Commit”.
Amia has a cat named Frankie who’s really more her sister’s cat, but Amia proudly noted that she’s Frankie’s favorite.
Her favorite food is pepperoni pizza and, fitting the Valentine’s theme, chocolate-covered strawberries.
Her favorite movies are Baby Driver and Legally Blonde. When I asked if the Legally Blonde sequels were good, she politely said no. “The original sequel is good, but the one with the twins was so bad.”
If Amia were to describe herself in three words they would be kinda-creative (“question mark”), smiley-person, and friendly. “I like to think I’m friendly, but I don’t know if it’s true”.
She’s looking at the University of Michigan and the UCs and hopes to continue her theater career in college.
Since this is a Valentine’s Day article, I had to bring up something in the Valentine’s spirit. I asked Amia if she could go on a date with one famous person, who would it be? She confidently said James Marsten from Enchanted or a young Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Cauwenberghs
From the survey, there were more votes on “The Cauwenberghs” than one twin in particular, so I thought it best to just interview both of them together. Let’s just say this was the most chaotic interview I’ve ever had.
Bennett said that he feels, “incredibly honored that everyone else has recognized my… me.” Alec said that he feels “reborn.”
The twins couldn’t recall any of their senior crushes as underclassmen, so “clearly they weren’t that memorable.”
In his free time, Bennett likes to photograph and play guitar. The first song he learned how to play was Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison.
Alec likes to spend time with his family. “I’m a family guy.”
Their family enjoys playing “reverse charades.” I asked if they meant Gestures, a game that is literally charades in reverse, and they both, in unison, corrected me that it was “reverse charades.”
They also like to spend time with their dog Monroe. They were very adamant that I put Monroe’s name in this.
Their dog’s name is Monroe, by the way.
Monroe.
Both twins swim and play soccer. Bennett thinks they started both sports when they were five, but all he knows is that “it’s been a while.”
In his free time, Alec likes “reading French novels and watching French television.”
Bennett likes “watching raindrops.”
When I asked what their favorite foods were, Alec said his was chicken parm, and Bennett sighed. I said it was okay if they said the same thing, but he refused. After some thought, Bennett finally said, “I really like hamburgers.”
This happened again when I asked about their favorite movie. Alec said Kung Fu Panda, and Bennett immediately exclaimed that he was also going to say that. Bennett then decided on Pink Panther.
Bennett’s favorite song is Billionaire by Bruno Mars, and Alec’s is Hips Don’t Lie by Shakira.
Bennett describes himself as tall, courageous, and honest.
Alec describes himself as handsome, intelligent, and humble.
Both twins haven’t decided on a college yet. Bennett’s top choices right now are the University of North Carolina, Duke, UPenn, and Georgetown. Alec’s are Michigan, Northwestern, UT Austin, and Michigan.
If Bennett could go on a date with one famous person, it would be Bruno Mars.
Alec would not go on a date with a famous person, for after asking Bennett who he should say, he decided his answer was “no one.”
Mary Douglas Kollme
When I asked Mary Douglas how she felt being one of the top senior crushes, she laughed and said she wasn’t sure what to say. After hearing what her fellow selected senior crushes said, she agreed with Mason that “it’s nice” but she’s not making it a “big deal.”
Mary Douglas’s senior crush as an underclassman was David Underwood. “He was my brother’s friend.”
Along with doing fall cheer at Lovett, she’s been playing soccer since she was three years old. When I asked if she planned on continuing this long athletic commitment in college, she confidently, and quickly, said, “No, I’m done.”
When Mary Douglas isn’t near the field, either on it playing soccer or on the sidelines cheering, she likes to hang out with her friends and shop.
She has one dog, an English Cocker Spaniel named Scout who’s three years old.
Her favorite food is Pasta with pink sauce from FIGO Pasta. For those of you who don’t know what that is (I didn’t), “it’s a mix of marinara and alfredo sauce,” she explained. “It’s so good.”
Mary Douglas’s favorite movie is Princess Diaries, and her favorite songs are “anything Taylor Swift.”
I asked her to describe herself in three words, and her immediate response was “oh no.” I reassured her that it was casual and her peer’s responses weren’t too deep, and she looked relieved. “I would say friendly, outgoing, and caring.”
She’s going to be joining her brother and sister at the University of Alabama in the fall which was her top choice.
Lastly, if Mary Douglas could go on a date with a famous person, it would be Ian Somerhalder. “He’s not that cute anymore though,” she added as she looked up a picture of him on her phone.
Hayden Bernard
Hayden Bernard is a man of few words. When our interview did not end up happening, I sent him the questions via email. Here’s what he said:
Being one of the top senior crushes “makes you feel good about yourself.”
In his free time, Hayden likes to play golf or hang out with friends.
He plays football and Baseball.
Hayden’s “not sure” of his newest hobby.
He has a dog.
His favorite food is a burger.
His favorite movie is Stepbrothers.
Hayden’s favorite song is Dawns by Zach Bryan.
The three words he would use to describe himself are “relaxed, caring, and humorous”.
He’s going to TCU.
And if Hayden could go on a date with one famous person, it would be Margot Robbie.
And those are the 2023 Senior Crushes. Oh, and don’t forget about Monroe.
