Ruthie Welch is not necessarily your low-profile senior. But, as you read about her various track records and volleyball awards, it's hard to keep from wondering what this successful athlete is really all about. A Q&A with Ruthie reveals that, as one would have guessed, there is much more to her than the 800-meter race. In fact, at today's year-end student awards assembly, she won the social studies department's top honor, the James Tobin Award for Excellence in the Social Sciences. From her life as a student suffering from major senioritis to her favorite classes at Uni to her interests after high school, Ruthie dishes on a variety of things going on in her life.

Questions and Answers with Ruthie Welch

The following is a transcript of an in-person interview with Ruthie Welch, conducted by Gargoyle senior editor Sarah Pfander.

Now that you’re a senior, what advice would you give to underclassmen?

I would say you need to not form impenetrable friend groups early on and then refuse to move around and meet other people, which is really easy to do at Uni. It’s really easy to find a group of like five and then say: “OK, here are my friends. Here is who I am going to hang out with every day, here is who I’m going to eat lunch with, here’s who I am going to hang out with on the weekends.” And I think that is really too bad, and it is a little bit destructive and it’s very divisive. I think it would be really great if the unity all of these classes seem to experience in the second semester of their senior year could be kind of spread out throughout all five. So, I would give that advice.

Don’t you think it is in the nature of your second semester of your senior year for people to come together?

Yeah, it is. It is in the nature of the second semester of your senior year. But I definitely think that is just because the whole class feels that vibe. I think that if people individually earlier on would make an effort to break out of their groups that could be really good.

I would also advise you to take philosophy, because that is the best class at Uni.

What made philosophy your favorite class?

Mr. [Billy] Vaughn and all of the awesome people who took it, because everyone who was in philosophy really wanted to be in philosophy. There were like 30 people in that class; it was a huge class. So, it was a combination of a really brilliant teacher, and then a bunch of really smart people too, so I felt like I was learning from all of my classmates and also learning from Mr. Vaughn.

Also, I think everyone in that class would say that at the beginning I was really annoying to everyone in there. I would just talk all the time, and it was really too bad that I did that. And, I think I got better at listening to other people throughout the course of the class, and that was a really important skill for me to learn. And it’s not like I am the ninja of it now, but I am better at it.

What have been some of you other favorite classes?

I really liked German, because Herr W [Paul Weilmuenster] is a very cool guy. Oh, and I love [English teacher] Ms. [Elizabeth] Majerus. I love any class ever taught by Ms. Majerus in the history of the world, which was why it was such a bummer that I couldn’t take physics and Creative Writing. That was really too bad. I also liked physics even though I am having a lot of trouble with it right now and don’t enjoy it very much at this moment, but I liked it a while ago.

What have been some of the classes you haven’t liked so much, and why has that been?

I am having a hard time with the fourth quarter of second-semester physics because I have to work really hard to understand physics, and I don’t feel like working hard.

Oh, and that’s more of my advice to underclassmen. Don’t take hard courses your second semester. I don’t care if you want to impress colleges, just don’t take them, because you will just wish you hadn’t. Plus, you won’t get into the college you want to go to anyway, so you should not even try.

Also, I didn’t really like any of my math classes except the ones I took with Mr. [Craig] Russell. Math was a huge problem at this school, except for Mr. Russell. And maybe Mr. Russell and I didn’t always get along and have similar views, but he was like the best math teacher I have ever had. I learned math from him so well. I was better at math at the end of sophomore year than I’ve been in my life, and now I’m really bad at math again.

You’re not bad at math.

That’s debatable.

Regardless of whether or not you liked the class, you got in A in it. What are your feelings about being a straight-A student?

Generally, it just came from liking school, but there were definitely some classes where I had to work really hard, like Mr. Russell’s math class, physics, and chemistry. I’m proud of being a good student, and I’m glad that I maintained my grades. But, I’m also enjoying not working this semester when grades don’t matter as much. So, I kind of wish that I could teach myself that the grades don’t matter as much and I could keep this relaxed feeling. But at the same time, I like getting an A because I feel like I’ve learned something. Plus, the fact that I respect most of my teachers and myself makes me want to do well. And I think that doing well has helped me get into the college I’m going to next year. So I don’t regret putting time into my grades.

Are you at all comfortable talking about your experiences senior year, because I know that being a senior has not been very easy for you. Do want to talk about some of the things that have made this year so hard?

I’m not sure that it necessarily had to do with senior year …. Can you ask a more specific question?

Well, I know that you came out this year, and that sports have been giving you trouble and you have taken issue with an experience that has previously been positive. So, just a lot of things have been different for you this year. What do you think has contributed to the changes in your life?

Well, I think that I maybe realized this year that I had been doing the exact same thing for my whole time at Uni. I had always played three sports, I had always liked boys, I had done the same thing for a long time in many areas of my life. And then, the big change came when I first thought that I liked girls, and then as soon as that part of my life came up for scrutiny, everything else did too. So, I thought, “Well, if I am actually lesbian, if I’ve made that big of a mistake in that arena, then what have I done everywhere else?” Now I don’t think I am lesbian, I think I am [bisexual], but for a while there I was wondering. But anyway, it just made me question a lot of things. Why have I been playing sports all this time? Why have I been trying to get A’s in every single class, instead of maybe just chilling out a little bit? And I think that some of those questions that I had were right, I needed to reevaluate those parts of my life. But I definitely have done some things wrong in an attempt to analyze my life.

Then, in terms of taking issue with sports, I think in basketball I was just having a really hard time with things unrelated to the sport, but I felt like the mental toughness that was required to be in a sport, I didn’t always have it. It made me think that I probably wouldn’t run track because I needed a break. But, Merf [girls basketball coach Rebecca Murphy] helped me through that time like nobody else did, and I think I realized that to change you don’t have to throw everything away of who you were before. You don’t have to reject everything just to grow. And I felt like that was what I was doing. I felt that if I wanted to be different, or if I wanted to grow, then I just had to not do anything that I used to do.

So, I think that I made a lot of weird decisions this year. I’m glad I made them all, and definitely deciding to run track instead of not running track, which was what I was going to do, was the best decision I’ve made. It’s the only decision where I am 100 percent sure it was exactly right. And even it was really hard because no one else on girls distance except for me decided to keep running. But, it’s been very rewarding.

Do you want to talk at all about what made sports so fun for you before?

Sports are great at Uni. I really am so happy that I came to Uni and was able to be on the sports teams. It was a great way to make and maintain friendships. Sometimes the competition, of course, is a little bit taxing. But, I feel like, just looking at you and I, we are always closer during our sports seasons. And I just love that, that aspect of the team and getting to know people and getting close with people. And I feel like even now being with the guys track team, I’m getting a lot closer with a lot of them, which is very rewarding too. So, I enjoy that part of it.

Also, I really love playing the sport or running the sport. It’s just so fun, and it gives me self-confidence and it makes me feel like I have some control over what I am doing, and it makes me feel like I am good at something.

But, I think the main attraction of sports at Uni has just been how much I respect the coaches. Because, there were times during basketball this year when I was really frustrated, and I know there were times that Merf was really frustrated with me because I wasn’t putting in the effort that I should have been. But, I respected her too much to quit. And in the end, I think that is a big reason that I decided not to quit track either. I just respect Doug [Mynatt] too much to not go out and run for him, after I’d done that for a couple years and he had been my coach.

I also think that the coaches have done everything to merit the respect that I have for them. I had a really hard period one time and I called Merf, and I think it’s really great that I am able to call my basketball coach when I am totally distraught and have no idea what I should do. She’s not just a basketball coach, she’s also a very supportive figure for me. And also, I really like [Athletic Director] Sally [Walker], for the same reasons. I feel like Sally’s really supportive, and she’s especially supportive and proud of her female athletes, which kind of imbues me with a sense of pride.

So, now can I ask you what the sum of your overall Uni experience has been? Like, what was the best part?

I can’t really answer that question at all. I have no idea what the answer is.

Is that just because overall there has been a lot of positive? Or there’s just not one that sticks out?

I think it’s probably because, of all the experiences I’ve had at Uni, there’s not one and I think, “Wow, that’s the best thing that has ever happened.” There are a lot of things where I think, “I really like that that occurred.” There are a lot of rough times here too, and I feel like especially this year I’ve had a lot of rough times. But then there are really good things that will happen occasionally, and that’s what helps you get through the other times. Like, the weekend, which helps you get through the week.

Looking back, is there anything you wish you had gotten to do at Uni that you just didn’t have time for?

I really wish that I could have been involved in theater. Especially Big Show. I would have liked to be in it. I don’t know if I would have been good enough, but I would have liked to try anyway. I wish I could have taken Creative Writing. And sometimes I wish I could have been on girls soccer.

Looking to next year, what college are you going to?

I’m going to Dartmouth.

For sure?

Yeah, I don’t think I am going to try to get off of the wait list at Brown. I really liked Dartmouth, so I think I am going to go there.

And what are you going to study?

I’ll probably double major in government and German.

And, you are spending a year with Rotary in Mexico. What are you most excited about?

Speaking Spanish! I am so excited to become fluent in Spanish. I think that given that I’ve taken two years of intensive Spanish, I’m at a good enough level that I can go into the country and if I live there for a year I will become fluent. So I am really looking forward to that. I think that’s going to be awesome. And my plan is, before I leave, I am going to watch all of my favorite movies in Spanish and listen to all of my favorite Spanish music and not understand any of it. And then when I come back I’m going to do the same thing and it’s going to be overwhelming how much Spanish I’ve learned. I hope that will happen. That would be really cool.

I’ve gone on international trips with Uni before and there have been host stays, and the host stay is always my favorite part of the week. It’s so fun to live with a family in another country and have to speak another language. So, I’m actually less nervous about next year than I am about college. I’m really nervous about college. I’m not going to have friends.

Whatever.

Yeah.

So, I know that you have not been only an athlete at Uni, but you’ve also done stuff with [NPR radio station] WILL. Can you just talk about the last couple years you’ve spent editing radio shows?

Yeah. Well, I actually pulled out of this year’s show, because I was just feeling overwhelmed with all of my classes and I had senioritis like a mofo. And, [sophomore] Maritza [Mestre] did a really good job stepping up and taking that over. But, working with WILL was really fun too. I think I learned a lot through that, and Mr. [Dave] Dickey was really patient the whole time. And, it was just another thing that I got to do here, that I think if I had gone to another high school I wouldn’t have gotten to do.

Do you think you are going to try to work with a college radio station?

Yeah. I might think about doing that. You know, there is a part of me that is still interested in journalism. Obviously I didn’t take journalism here, so I don’t really know about journalism, but I know a fair amount about radio journalism, just from having worked at WILL for five years.

Any last words?

I think Sarah looks really sexy with her braces off. That’s my conclusive statement.