Sueanna Keim (A16), Rob Killefer (A16), and Gina Vandetty (A16) are captains of the Guardians, one of the five intramural teams at St. John’s College in Annapolis.
St. John’s College: What is your favorite part of being an intramural captain?
Gina: The people—by far the people. I love that we get to meet people from every grade, especially people I wouldn’t usually hang out with or meet otherwise.
Sueanna: I think it’s really nice that you are not only able to meet them, but to be responsible for them. I’m very much a mothering type, and I just want to be able to craft these small people into thumatic [Editor’s note: thumos is Greek for ‘spirited.’], amazing people, and I think that this is a great way to do that.
Rob: It’s been fun getting to know the freshmen as a captain, instead of just a fellow teammate. You see people from a different perspective, and I feel that other people see us differently than they did last year. That’s an interesting change to see in ourselves and the people we interact with.
SJC: What makes a Guardian a Guardian?
Gina: The golden soul. It’s funny because the teams are kind of like the houses of Hogwarts; certain people usually get assigned a certain ones. The Guardians are kind of like Gryffindor, very much the thumatic people. We really like to win, though if we don’t it’s not the end of the world. We’re very close knit as a team.
Sueanna: I would say, Pan thumos ou techne [‘all spirit, no skill’], all the way. That’s what makes us.
SJC: What is the intramural program at St. John’s?
Gina: It’s this kind of underlying force within the college, keeping people together [and] getting people out and active.
Sueanna: It’s another way to invest in your community. I think it’s really underrated. Training our bodies and our souls to be thumatic should be at the forefront of what we do here, and I see all the time people who learn to express thumos on the field do it in the classroom. That’s definitely my story: didn’t talk at all in class when I got here, and now I feel like much more like a force to be reckoned with in all areas.
SJC: What other activities are you involved in at St. John’s?
Gina: I have a job here; I work the switchboard. I do jujitsu, intramurals, yoga is three times a week. I do the fine arts programs. I did one in pottery, which was great.
Sueanna: I’m a writing assistant. I used to be the archon of the Orthodox Christian Fellowship; I have relinquished that but I still participate in all their things. I do a lot of other athletic things on campus. I was the editor for the Swarm, the literary magazine last semester.
Rob: I started two clubs: the improv club two years ago, [which] lasted about a year; now I get together every week with a group of people and we play e-sports competitive video games.
SJC: How does work in the classroom affect intramurals and vice versa?
Gina: It makes you more comfortable [and] assertive. I think this is what Sueanna was talking about earlier, being thumatic. If you’re comfortable enough playing with a team on the field, that kind of mentality transfers over into a seminar and you look into it differently than you would otherwise. Suddenly it becomes like you’re working together to try to achieve something.
Rob: You learn from both and then apply the things that you learn to them both, because you learn things that are applicable to a lot of different facets of one’s life.
SJC: Which team is the Guardians’ biggest rival?
Gina: This year it’s the Druids, for sheer size.
Sueanna: We both have similar work ethics and views: play hard and have a lot of fun.
Rob: It’s definitely a friendly, friendly rivalry.
SJC: What would be one word you would use to describe a Guardian?
All: Thumos.
—Brady Lee (AGI14)