By Christian O’Hara

      Try living up to this...Mr. Hoover once told me that three of his favorite students over the years (pre-1990) were Kathy Pottle (my aunt), Lauren Meserve (whom I dated while she was the Lasso editor) and Genie Nolan (who wouldn't give me the time of day in high school but who would later become my wife).

       I started working on the Lasso in 1988, my sophomore year at George Mason, and let's just say that with my work ethic at the time that there was little chance of me cracking Mr. Hoover's top three -- or top 300 for that matter.  He never said he was disappointed with me, though, rather he was constantly trying to get me to work harder and reach my potential both as a writer and as a person.  It was an uphill battle for him but I'm glad he stayed with me.

       In 1988 Genie was the editor-in-chief and she still jokes with me to this day that she wrote every one of my columns for me -- in fact, I even tried to get her to write this story for me but she declined saying that it was finally time for me to earn a true writing credit in the Lasso.

       I'll be honest with you; I was taking his journalism class because it was an easy way to get a good grade and goof around with my friends.  Mr. Hoover, though, really took 'his' paper seriously, and was passionate about it and I took notice over time.  He really enjoyed the process of putting something of substance together and seeing the project through to the end and I worked hard my junior and senior years to become a part of that process.

      By the time I graduated, I had worked on the Lasso for three years and was even writing my own column in the sports section.  I was so proud of one column I wrote on the resurgence of the football program that I have kept a copy of it to this day.

      One memory really stands out in my mind; we were in the print shop one Saturday morning my senior year and Mr. Hoover and I got to talking about music.  We were discussing great lyrics when we both said that our favorite line in any song was "I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then" from "Against the Wind" by Bob Seger.  I remember how he smiled and told me how fortunate I was to realize the meaning of that line at the ripe old age of 18.
      I was extremely lucky in high school; George Mason was a perfect place for a shy, skinny kid like me because I was able to play sports year-round and try out new classes like journalism if I wanted.  My last two years were some of the best times of my life and not a lot of people are able to say that, unfortunately.  I'll never forget the awards ceremony my senior year; Mr. Hoover honored with me an award for distinguished work on the Lasso and I remember how proud I was for having come so far in three years.

      You think I can I crack that top 300 now?