Junior Davey Lapack reads in the Media Center on Dec. 13. Lapack enjoys the feeling it gives her. “I love to read. I’m always reading something,” Davey said. “I like to expand my vocabulary and see all these different words, and it’s just — it’s kind of nice. Like, it’s kind of peaceful.” Photo by Ashley Lawrence.
By VALERIA GARCIA-POZO – News Editor
Junior Davey Lapack hopes to implement her passions for reading, drawing and writing into her future plans after moving to Athens in July.
She flips the pages of the book, a serene expression taking over her face. The world is suddenly open to all kinds of whimsical possibilities, as reading takes her on a flight of fancy.
For junior Davey Lapack, art means seeing magic in the world around her. It means reading, it means writing and drawing. Throughout her life, these things she holds dear have influenced the way she thinks, her outlook on life. They have cast a spell on her.
“When I see a painting, I can create a story for that. I’m like, ‘Oh, I can see this mood, and I can make a story about that painting.’ And what’s going on? Why is it like this? Why is it this mood? I can like, put it in words, and vice versa. I read a book and I can try to put it into a picture,” Davey said. “(I write about) typically life with like, a little twist. Just like a little bit more like magic into it.”
An artist from an early age, Davey remembers being asked to draw things for other students in her first-grade class, and takes art as a serious hobby, which began her freshman year of high school, as she started drawing Disney characters and eventually, people.
“There was this person in my class in freshman year and that’s the first time I ever wanted to draw someone that was actually real. That’s why I started drawing people. That’s when I became really into it and always doing it, more than usual,” Davey said.
Davey’s drawings are filled with people, nature, and mythical beings, inspired by her surroundings and by the things she reads.
“I get a lot of inspiration from books, too, like I’ll envision something in my head, but I can’t find that envision anywhere else, so I try to draw it,” Davey said. “I’ll try to draw some characters like how I think they look in books.”
Whenever she’s at a loss for words, her artwork is there to express the things she can’t otherwise convey.
“I read this book about — it was about mermaids, actually, and it had this kind of — it had a weird mood. It wasn’t all happy and cheerful. There was like some dark and some actual realistic qualities to it, and it was really interesting. It was a completely different perspective on life, if you read it and actually take all of it in,” Davey said. ”That’s all I thought about for a while and I couldn’t get it out, so I started drawing it. I started drawing, like, the characters I saw and tried to pick out the serious expressions and put the kind of setting they were in and all that.”
Her eyes light up when she talks about her passions, her demeanor open and inviting. A self-described optimist, she sees the best in her situation and eagerly looks toward the future. It is right in front of her. She has a plan.
Born in Athens, Georgia, Davey moved back to Athens from Parsons, Kansas just before the beginning of the 2016-17 school year. She looks at the move as a new opportunity, a chance to reach further in her education.
“If I take certain steps here at the school, I have a good chance at a scholarship for UGA, and so that’s what we did. That’s the whole reason why we moved here,” Davey said.
Making new friends has not been a challenge for Davey, despite the much larger school environment that CCHS presents her with.
“I think she’s fitting in. She’s really social, so she’s doing really good. She’s really funny and just amazing, really,” junior Anapaula Saucedo said. “She can find the deeper meaning into things much easier.”
Additionally, the change of scenery has not changed what Davey loves to do. She continues to focus on her passions, inside and outside the classroom. Those around her see her dedication.
“You can see that she puts her mind and soul into what she writes, but I know she based — as any writer does, I think they base that off of their own experience in life,” Davey’s sister Jenny Garcia, a 2015 CCHS graduate, said.
If accepted to UGA, Davey plans to pursue an English major, fueled by a desire to increase her knowledge of communication.
“Writing is a way to figure things out for yourself. Writing is not just for other people, but it’s for yourself. As you write, you learn more about the subject you’re writing about,” Davey said. “Writing is about impacts, really. Impact on yourself and impact of others.”
English department co-chair Ian Altman, who teaches Davey Advanced Placement English Language and Composition, sees her as a deep thinker and has faith in her abilities to reach her goals.
“She has her own distinct, unique voice, and that she’s not afraid to express it when she feels like she wants to,” Altman said. “I’m really excited for her, and I think she’s eminently qualified to go to UGA and I think she can do very well there.”
As she continues her studies and her life in a new place, Davey looks forward to discovering what the town and the future have in store for her.
“This town has a lot more opportunities to do things, like there’s always a bunch of art contests going around, just in the town,” Davey said. “This town’s like, so expressive and creative and I really love that. I love this town so much because of that. There’s probably a lot of opportunities for writing as well.”
