Interview With an 8th Grader (Ella, Clara, and Callum Carter-Klauschie)

Callum Carter-Klauschie single-handedly building a sandbox (2014)!

Callum Carter-Klauschie is an eighth grader at Palms Middle School and the youngest of the Carter-Klauschie siblings. He loves art, particularly if it’s dinosaur-related, can climb a V6, and will rock a baggy jean. 

Ella, Clara, and Callum Carter-Klauschie sat down together in their childhood home to discuss middle school, high school, the future, and more!

Callum: How long will this take? 

Ella: Probably not longer than 20 minutes. And after this, I'll make you a smoothie, and we can play Dress to Impress. 

Callum: Ok.

Ella: How has your year been so far? 

Callum: Hmm... Very easy. All of my middle school years have felt easier than 5th grade, which is kind of concerning, but yeah. 

Clara: What is your biggest takeaway from this semester? 

Callum: This is hard, this is a hard question. I feel like I've gotten a lot better at persisting at things. 

Ella, Callum, and their Dad (2013)!

Ella: Has this semester been different than what you thought it would be like when you started in August? 

Callum: It's easier than I thought it would be. In the beginning, I was really worried about my history teacher. She seemed pretty strict, but I think she was trying to scare us a little bit. She's pretty chill now, and I think she's my favorite teacher. 

Clara: How has your life and outlook changed? 

Callum: I'm feeling very consistent right now. Like, I'm kind of in a groove. What’s making me feel like that is probably just the climbing, the structure of climbing, and going a lot. Also, having that as a constant goal of improving. 

Ella: What is most important to you as we reach the end of 2025? 

Callum: I think just having a good experience throughout my year, and connecting with my family. 

Ella (left), Clara (middle), and Callum (right) on a turtle (2014)!

Clara: Where do you see yourself next December, not necessarily physically, but emotionally and spiritually?

Callum: Currently, it feels like I'm just in my groove, and not feeling like I want that to change, really. I'm feeling pretty settled where I am.

Ella: How often do you think about the future, and when you think about it, what does it look like to you?

Callum: I don’t really think very far ahead. For me, the future is just like trying to do the things I want to do and get better at the things that I want to get better at. And reaching that, yeah. 

Ella: You had to think about the future a few weeks ago when you had to pick a high school. So what were you thinking about? What was your thought process there? 

Callum: That's a good point. Hamilton just felt like a good option, a little less unknown. I feel like I've never been super decisive about those types of things, unless I really, really know what I want to do. 

Clara and Callum at Castle Heights Elementary (2014)!

Clara: Do you see middle school at all as a transition from your childhood to your teen years?

Callum: Mm, not as a transition. I think it's just a time. Like, it just happens. You know? I don't really think that much has changed. I've gotten a lot better academically, being able to handle things. Especially since like 3rd grade. I had some struggles with reading, but I feel like that’s nonexistent now. 

Ella: What advice do you have for making friends in middle school? 

Callum: I think it's just helpful to be open and be curious about other people. Just ask people some questions and things like that. There's always gonna be someone that you can connect with, with at least just a little bit of looking. 

Clara: What advice would you give to someone starting middle school? 

Callum: For me, it was a lot of stress was forced on me with my 5th-grade teacher always saying that middle school is gonna be so hard. Everyone says in elementary school that it's gonna be this big step up, and I think that puts unnecessary stress. I mean, obviously, this depends on what middle school you go to, but for me, it didn't really feel necessary to be as worried about those things as I was. And then I kept expecting it to get a lot harder. Yeah, it's not easy, but my experience wasn't nearly what it was said to be in elementary. 

Ella: What will you miss when you graduate, and what won't you miss? 

Callum: I don't think there's that much that I'll really miss, because I don't feel like I’ve been super connected to it. I mean, it's only 3 years, really. I thought I had some really good teachers, so I guess I hope to find that, and I might miss some of my teachers. I'll probably see a lot of my friends, so I'm not worried about that. What won't I miss? I feel like I'm pretty neutral on this one. 

Ella: The tunnel? 

Callum: Yeah, I don't think I'll miss the tunnel. 

Callum/Peter Pan and Clara at a restaurant (2015)!

Clara: So what does graduating from eighth grade mean to you? 

Callum: From eighth grade, I'm graduating… I guess just that you go up and then you go back down, like you're the youngest and then you're the oldest. Everybody moves on. 

Ella: How do you view high school, and is how you view high school at all informed by your siblings' experiences in high school? 

Callum: Definitely. I think I've gotten a lot of good reviews about Hamilton, about the community at Hamilton. That sounds appealing to have a really, really good community, which is what I've heard. I mean, I'm expecting more work, because of others' experiences… Uh... but I guess that's kind of how I make it for myself too. 

Clara: What would you like to ask the magic eight ball? 

Callum: Okay, this is pretty random, but will I start cooking more? 

Ella: Hmm, mm, I like this question. 

Magic Eight Ball: Most likely.