by Noah Corman ’19

Some know senior Keiran Ferro as the guy who walks around school wearing all black. Others know him because of his Super Smash Bros skills. However, he is probably best known as the monotone, seemingly disinterested co-host of the morning announcements.

Because he is viewed by most as just a face on a screen, few are familiar with his off-screen life. Despite his celebrity status, Ferro is very down-to-Earth, and his unconventional demeanor provides a new definition of cool. Some prominent figures unintentionally portray popularity and coolness as something unattainable to most, but Ferro shows that charisma is not reserved to a select few individuals. Everyone possesses it in one form or another.

“I like to be real about what I think [and] who I am and not put on an act,” said Ferro.

Ferro’s on-screen persona suggests that he must be bored to death, but in reality, he just talks like that. Although he genuinely enjoys the announcements, he feels no need to fake enthusiasm. Self-identifying as emo, he prefers that his internal feelings match his actions, which is more than some people can say.

“I’m telling the world, ‘like yeah, I’m depressed; the world’s a messed up place and we all can see that,’” explained Ferro.

He rejects the stereotypes that gamers hate physical activity and that emo people are nothing more than dark clouds of sadness. Ferro talks openly about his depression and feels that mental illness should be much less stigmatized. Although he simply expresses a natural range of emotions, some people fixate on his appearance too much and misconstrue his disposition.

“I’d just want people to think I care about them and want to be their friend and see them happy,” said Ferro. Rather than spend each day brooding, he leads a very active social life. He played recreational soccer for most of his life, jokes with his friends all the time, and wins small cash prizes from Super Smash Bros tournaments. Like anyone else, he loves memes as well as pop music like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Fall Out Boy. Inspired by Guitar Hero, he also started learning guitar this year.

Ferro openly presents his multidimensional personality with both its ups and downs. In fact, his ups include the thrill of living the stereotype of every old widowed woman: Ferro has a dozen cats. He prefers cats to dogs because they match his personality.

“I’ve got like a bunch of cats and … I have 2 dogs as well,” said Ferro. “I just like cats better because they seem like they don’t care about the world … and I think that’s cool.”

Through his dark outfits, black nail polish, and relaxed temperament, Ferro has worked towards becoming the most genuine version of himself. He deviated from his authentic self only once. This past Halloween, he wore a blonde wig and pretended to be his co-host junior Annabelle Kahn. Besides that anomaly, he does the unthinkable each and every single day: unapologetically and fearlessly being Keiran Ferro.