What makes Jessie Murphy, junior, stand out from everyone else? Well, outside of her grueling hours spent at South, she is a amazing musician. She practices frequently and even performs in concerts.

“I have been playing since I was about five, and I have had the same teacher for the past 13 years,” said Murphy.

Through all of these years spent practicing to become as talented as she is today, she has gathered the ability to play many instruments.

“I can play the ukulele, bass, acoustic and electric,” said Murphy.

She now is practicing at School of Rock along with many kids who also attend South. She took choir her freshman year at South and plans to spend her senior year taking more music classes. All of her practice doesn’t go unheard, she plays concerts and many different venues around St. Louis.

“I have played at the Pageant, Firebird, Skybar, Music Lounge, and many other places,” said Murphy.

According to Murphy some performances are more fun than others, and the ones that are, become some of her favorites.

“I think that my favorite performance was summer of 2018. I will always remember it because of how hard that I was sweating and the beautiful sunset that provided a cool backdrop to the stage,” said Murphy.

She said that she is so excited to perform at Summerfest this summer in Milwaukee and she hopes to have a similar experience, but much more exciting because of how large it is. Murphy hopes to continue her passion in her future also.

“In college I hope to major in music education,” said Murphy.

Paige Kuhnmuench is a senior at Parkway South High School. She was one of three students who got picked from the whole school to do a story about something in their life.

Throughout Kuhnmuench’s life she has experienced many injuries. Most of them are through the two sports she plays.

“I play soccer and field hockey, and am the goalie for both. Even though I love both sports they can be tough on the body,” Kuhnmuench said.

Even when Paige was a little girl she still would get injured, they kept going to different doctors to see why she was getting hurt so often. After going to a couple of doctors their family got an answer.

“When I was little I got diagnosed with a disease called Madelung Deformity. Basically that means my wrist bone is too long and doesn’t exactly fit,” Kuhnmuench said.

Madelung Deformity is a rare condition that develops at birth and is a condition in which the wrist grows abnormally and part of the radius. Madelung Deformity makes your radial shaft bowed.

In simpler words, “My wrist bone is shaped kind of like a boat,” Kuhnmuench said.

Some symptoms that come with the disease are pain of the wrist, decreased range in motion, and a wrist joint might become visible over time.

“This is something I’ve learned to deal with and know how to control,” said Kuhnmuench.

Paige still continues to be the best athlete she can be, even though she has a medical condition.

“Even though there’s something wrong with my bones, I could care less because I still get to play the sports I love,” Kuhnmuench said.

Peyton Stevenson is one of three individuals randomly chosen from the hundreds of students attending South this semester for a feature story.

Stevenson is very involved in Parkway South’s hockey team.

“I’m a goalie. I think it’s one of the most fun positions to play. Everyone’s like ‘How did he save that?!’ which is really cool” Stevenson said.

As much fun as Stevenson has in the position, last season he lost playing time due to a major injury.

“Last season I actually had my hamstring completely cut in half by a sharp skate. It ended up requiring surgery and took months to heal fully,” he said.

An injury like that can be career ending.

“I’m just lucky that everything went well and healed right, so now I’m able to play fully again,” Stevenson said.

His first game back was a huge success for him.

“During the game I made a 30-save shutout, which was really exciting since I had been out for so long,” Stevenson said.

He wants to continue his career into college.

“I’m going to Iowa State, trying to play hockey. I’m majoring in Air and Space Engineering, hoping to someday be a pilot or special tactics officer,” he said.