Elena Ulack, staff reporter
(she/her)
It’s sophomore Elena Ulack’s first year as a part of the Shield staff! She’s delighted to be given the opportunity to work with MacJ. In middle school, Ulack worked as part of the yearbook team and as an editor for the poetry magazine to diversify her writing skills. Although doesn’t remember where her love for writing came from, she has been enjoying creative writing for as long as she can remember. In her free time, Ulack finds joy in making collages and earrings, painting, reading, watching movies/shows that make her cry, and getting overly invested in analyzing people’s personalities.
![FIVE-STAR CAPTAIN: In One Night Only, the opening number of the spring show on Saturday night, Blue Brigade captain Charli Cevallos is front and center setting the mood and tempo for the number and entire show. Cevallos said the opening number of the spring show is always upbeat and fun and this year’s edition was no exception. Cevallos said she remembers the moment as one of pure adrenaline. “Since opener is the first dance, the excitement is running high and it’s such a great feeling to be performing our hard work for an audience.” As the photo suggests, the team was able to perform the number in sync even though it was a new dance choreographed exclusively for the spring show by first lieutenant Annabel Winter (left) and senior lieutenant Emily Garza. “Opener was our first spring show dance we learned,” Cevallos said, “and it came together super well. … [It was] definitely a team favorite.” Cevallos said her favorite part of the number was the very beginning when Winter (left) woke her up stage left from a deep sleep to start the show. “It’s so fun,” she said, “and the audience loved it.” For the first time in three years, that audience was in the MAC and at full capacity without pandemic restrictions.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/dsc04748_52025488192_o-900x600.jpg)
![SINGING FOR SCROOGE: To preface the choir concert, a group of choir members sang Christmas carols in a “Dickens-esque” fashion. Senior chamber choralist, Evelyn Griffin (second from the left), told Macjournalsim that the group stuck to classic Christmas songs. “[We sang] We Wish You a Merry Christmas, some Latin thing, Silent Night, that kind of thing,” Griffin said. “My wardrobe situation was a bit stressful, but I enjoy singing with tenors and basses.” Caption by Lucy Marco.](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/dsc00040_51737185954_o-900x600.jpg)
![Sophomore Gabi Alfarache (left) mid-bout. Having a good coach is important to success, and Alfrache has just that. Coming from Yale University to central Texas, Michael Kim became another father figure for Alfarache, “My ultimate role model is my coach [Kim]. He came from Korea to the United States when he was a teenager, and didn’t start fencing until college. He’s coached world champions, olympians, and even left his coaching position at Yale University to come coach in Texas. I really do think of him as my second father.”](https://macshieldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/586587E8-F4BE-4135-9BAA-0FD8F0205275-1-e1638232353826-900x550.jpeg)
