Veneti Stamateas will be attending UMass Amherst to major in biology. However, he plans to go to law school after getting his undergraduate degree to become a lawyer for a pharmaceutical company. Veneti says, “I love law as much as I do cellular biology and chemistry. However, things can always change so my plan for now is to succeed in college and go with the flow depending on the opportunities I find.”

Throughout his years at Pentucket he has been running for the track and cross country teams for four years. Veneti ran the 800m during his time in track, where he placed sixth in the JV CAL meet. He also did Jiu Jitsu outside of the school at Empower Martial Arts. Aside from sports, he has been playing guitar for seven years and was a member of the Pentucket Jazz band for two years. Now, he writes and records music and mainly focuses on metal and jazz fusion music. On top of all this he has also been an employee at Market Basket in Westgate Plaza since his sophomore year. Veneti says that “like all the other guys, I pushed carts and bagged food.” He was also an inventory logger during the yearly inventory check. 

He will miss his favorite teacher and coach, Mr. Ruland. “Before he was my AP English teacher, he was my coach and has always done his best to push me to do my best on the track and in the classroom,” Veneti says. Other teachers and coaches that have also had an impact on him include Mr. Stevens and Coach Cox. However, Mr. Ruland got to know him better than most faculty members because of all the environments he saw Veneti in. 

Something he will never forget was the look on Mr. Schumacher’s face when he first brought in the 8 eight-string guitar to Jazz band. He also thinks he can never forget all the ways people would react to the Greek food he would bring to lunch occasionally, ranging from disgust to fascination. Veneti claims, “People who know me call me by my name, those who can’t pronounce it call me Greek Freak.” 

He will surely be missed at Pentucket and we wish him luck on his next journey.