Home on the water

Danette Goulet

* EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is part of our continuing look at students

in Newport Harbor High School’s graduating class of 2000.

NEWPORT BEACH -- High school senior Milan Rousset’s future plans hinge

upon passing one course this spring -- and it’s not offered at Newport

Harbor High School.

In fact, he has no worries about his upcoming graduation. It’s earning

his captain’s license this spring that has butterflies in his stomach.

One of the seven class of 2000 students at Newport Harbor that the Pilot

has been following, Milan has always been at home on the water.

When readers first met him more than three years ago he played water polo

and talked of his love of bodysurfing, tubing, knee boarding and fishing.

Then he got a part-time job taking passengers out on Newport Bay in

gondolas.

As a senior, Milan has dedicated countless hours to rowing on the crew

team. Now, as he prepares to turn 18 in February, he has another

undertaking planned.

“I want to get my captain’s license this spring,” he said. “I hope to

take boats up and down the coast. People are always looking for captains,

and that way I’d get to travel and I’d get paid for it.”

Once he has his diploma in hand, Milan plans to travel to Argentina, his

father’s homeland, where he says he’ll put that captain’s license to good

use.

After following his heritage to Argentina, he plans to follow his whims

throughout South America for two months.

If all goes well with his captain’s adventures, it may alter the previous

college plans he was sure of a month ago.

After two years at Orange Coast College, Milan had planned to transfer to

the East Coast, Boston or New York. But if he continues a captain’s

career during college, he now says he may stay put.

In preparation for his trip to Argentina, Milan spent a month in Mexico

last summer studying the Spanish language and culture.

He stayed for four weeks with a family in Cuarnavaca, Mexico, through a

program his mother had learned about over the Internet.

Each day he would go to a woman’s house where Spanish teachers came and

tutored classes in Spanish language, writing and culture.

Most of his time was taken up with studying, Milan said, but he did find

time to visit the discotheques at night.

After the holidays, Milan will enter his final semester of high school

this spring.He has been practicing diligently for the upcoming crew

season.

As the team reconvenes for the spring semester, they will be practicing

five days a week, as they did in the fall.

He continues to run a T-shirt business he started with friends. And

although they branched out into sweatshirts for the winter, Milan said he

has grown tired of the venture and plans to quit soon.

Since he’s always on the go, keeping up this hectic spring schedule

should be no problem.