Work ethic is an important value that can get you through your school career and give you the drive to accomplish your goals. It is characterized by diligence, morality, and initiative. As a small, easygoing beach town, Westhampton Beach is not necessarily known for its work ethic. However, I have embarked on a quest to find this town’s hardest workers on the athletic field, in the classroom, as well as behind the microphone.

Ryan Osborne A.K.A. “Hawk”
This dual-sport senior star can often be found in the weight room after school and looks to take his baseball skills to the next level in college and possibly the pros.

Q: How often do you work out in the weight room? On the baseball diamond? On the wrestling mat?
A: Weight room is every day after practice and on my down time. Baseball is twice a week in the winter, (but) mostly in the fall and spring. The wrestling mat is from fall to winter until February… and I work on what I can after practice.

Q: Roids?
A: (Laughter) No way! That’s just cheating yourself by taking them, taking away your true ability as an athlete. I WOULD NEVER take them.

Q: Where do you plan on playing college baseball?
A: I am going to play for Farmingdale College next year.

Q: Any thoughts on a possible professional career?
A: I am committed to playing professionally. I want to play beyond college anywhere as long as I’m playing ball.

Joey Magro
This junior finished his sophomore year ranked 1st in his class despite the rigors of a difficult schedule filled with Advanced Placement and Honors classes. He also plays an integral role in the esteemed first trumpet section of Mr. Seifert’s Symphonic Band.

Q: How many hours do you spend per night studying outside of homework?
A: It really depends on my schedule for the week. Thankfully, I have many teachers who let us know in advance what the week ahead looks like and because of this I can plan out my time accordingly. So, I can spend anywhere from an hour one night to three the next. It mostly depends on where I need to allocate my time.

Q: How rigorous is your class schedule?
A: I’m taking 3 AP classes at the moment. AP United States History, AP Language and Composition, and AP Chemistry. These three courses are notorious for being some of the hardest that are offered, and I can tell you right now that they are a challenge. Aside from these three more difficult courses, I have really found the rest of my schedule to be pretty manageable.

Q: What methods do you use to keep on top of such a tough curriculum?
A: Focus and patience are the two I have come to take advantage of the most in my time in high school. I know that these have been repeatedly drilled into the minds of every student that has passed through this school, but I guarantee you very few have taken such advice to heart. I do my best to stay on task in class and take the time to truly understand the material I am learning. As the great Mr. Grodski has said time and time again, “Information means nothing unless you understand it.” If you’re memorizing and retaining information that way, you are not fully grasping the concept. I have strived to learn rather than memorize and when I don’t understand something, I keep on working until I do.

Q: Where do you plan to attend college, and what do you plan on studying in the future?
A: As for a specific college, I’m not really positive. However, it would be nice to stay on the Island or at least within the state. At the moment, I am in love with history, and Mr. Bass (my APUSH teacher) is really helping me come along in my understanding of this great nation’s history and how to analyze the past. I think it would be great to study in college and I’m so grateful to have such a brilliant stepping-stone to my goals.

Charles Caputo A.K.A. “Caprot”
This junior manages to juggle the responsibilities of high school and varsity basketball while pursuing rap greatness.

Q: How many hours do you spend writing on the average night?
A: I spend anywhere from one to five – basically however long it takes me to finish whatever I’m working on. In my mind, leaving something for the next day and coming back to it almost separates those two parts of the song, and can sometimes make the transition awkward from one part to the next. Of course, I won’t claim I spend four plus hours a night on writing, but I will also not pretend it hasn’t happened on many occasions.

Q: What activities does your average day comprise of?
A: Musicians are still your average person, and many people fail to realize that. A lot of kids hear that I make music and can’t seem to view me in any other way. I’m still me; I’m still a normal kid. I play basketball, go to work, hang out with my friends, etc. The only difference is, at the end of the day, one of my hobbies is making music.

Q: How many hours of sleep do you get on the average school night?
A: This varies sort of concurrently with question one. Sleep is great, and some days I have to just say forget it and knock out early. Other days, I’ll be in a super creative mindset, and I just can’t go to sleep with ideas swimming around in my head. Those days I’ll get as little as two hours. Like I said, it all depends.

Q: Who have you worked/collaborated with?
A: I have worked/collaborated with many artists, most of which are not much more well known than myself. However, there are a few names worth mentioning in upcoming material. Artists like Passionate MC, KillaT, The Jokerr, G-Mo Skee, Street Light, Baphomet MC, Apostolus, and Delacruz, just to name a few.

Q: What are your goals for the future as a musician?
A: I won’t pretend that I plan to pursue a career as a musician, because anyone that has tried will tell you: it probably won’t work out. However, it would obviously be the best-case scenario for me, and I hope I will have enough time to continue making music alongside whichever career path I enter in the future.