Roommates by Chance, Friends by Choice

Sixth Formers Kate Taylor ’23 and Lizzie Diamond ’23 reflect on four years of rooming together.

BY JACQUELINE PRIMO LEMMON

Katherine “Kate” Taylor ’23 celebrated her 14th birthday the day before she arrived at St. Paul’s School as a Third Former in September 2019. She and her family had driven nine hours from their home in Toronto, Ontario, which meant plenty of time for nerves and jitters — typical first-day-of-school butterflies, sure, but because she was coming to boarding school in another country where she didn’t know anyone, the butterflies were more the size of hawks.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more nervous,” Taylor recalls. “The entire drive, I was terrified.” But she felt a bit more secure once she saw a familiar face: her new roommate, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Diamond ’23.

Earlier that spring, Diamond had been eating breakfast in town on revisit day when her mom encouraged her to approach Taylor, who was at a nearby table with her mother; she guessed correctly that Taylor also was an incoming SPS student. “She introduced herself and we stuck together for the whole revisit,” Taylor says of meeting Diamond that day. Afterward, on the housing forms, each requested to room with the other.

The pair got a double in Conover 20, the School’s largest house, at the center of campus — and in a true full-circle moment, as Sixth Formers, they now live in a room directly above their first home on the grounds. The room is decorated in blues and greens; blue butterflies perch along one wall. “BFF” birds roost on a table between their beds, and on the door, Taylor and Diamond still hang a sign they made together when they were brand-new roommates: “Roommates by chance, friends by choice.”

Sticking with the same advisers, the same house and the same roommate for all four years was an easy decision for both girls, and each is quick to shower the other with compliments and declarations of best friendship.

“It would be safe to say that Kate Taylor is the reason I am graduating from St. Paul’s,” says Diamond, who is one of the Sixth Form Officers for the Form of 2023. “She is the reason I first loved this School, and she is the reason I am most sad to leave. When first arriving at SPS, I was incredibly introverted … But now, with her in the room, I am still able to recharge … because her presence doesn’t affect my social battery at all.”

More than bubbly, Taylor sparkles. To see her walking on campus — always with a smile on her face — you would assume she either has a clone or access to a time machine in order to keep all her commitments: in addition to a hefty course load, Taylor is captain of the girls varsity cross country team, girls varsity track & field and the robotics team. She also serves as a peer tutor and is head of GAINS: Women in Stem. “I love everything I do here and so it doesn’t really feel like I have to make time for things; it’s like I get to make time for things,” Taylor says.

A natural-born leader, Taylor considers her role as prefect one of the most important she has. “During my Fifth Form year, I thought a lot about how I wanted to leave my legacy on the School after I graduated,” she says. “So many people make an impact athletically or academically, but the biggest influence older students have had on me throughout my four years has been their enthusiasm and their kindness. Being a prefect gives me the opportunity to share both of these things. I’ve learned positivity and a willingness to make time for others can go a long way.”

Taylor aspires to be someone her housemates can turn to for anything and everything. She also wants to make every resident’s experience a fun one. “My goal as a prefect is to make the dorm the happiest place it can be,” she says. “What is really special about St. Paul’s is that we have vertical housing, meaning people across all forms live together. It can definitely be hard as a 14-year-old girl living with 18-year-olds. I think the prefect’s job is to bring everyone together to make that gap feel a little smaller.”

As a prefect Taylor also stays in constant communication with advisers, heads of house, teachers and other adults on campus. When a student is facing a challenge of any kind, the team of adults all work together — often in conjunction with prefects — to support them. She also spends time with the adviser on duty each night and has a close bond with her own adviser, Chief Advancement Officer Scott Bohan ’94, P’24,’25.

But of her Con20 housemates, Taylor describes a bond unlike any other. “It’s really unique because you get the benefits of the college lifestyle, where you get to live in a dorm with all your friends and manage doing work and athletics on top of living with one another, but it’s also the fun of summer camp,” she says. And when asked what she would go back and tell herself as an incoming Third Former at SPS if she could, Taylor doesn’t hesitate: “Not to worry so much about everything,” she says. “Those four years go by so, so quickly. Spend as much time as possible doing the things that make you happy.”