I’m in the Chapel Choir three days a week and am a choir officer. Before SPS I had never sung choral music or in that kind of space, but I joined in Fifth Form and I loved it. I have also been part of the SPS a cappella group for three years and we practice in the evening two times a week.
I came to the School with expectations for how my time here would go, but instead was able to try new things and I got to become a different version of me.”
GABBY, SIXTH FORMER
Dorm Life
I have lived in Con20 for four years now, so being a prefect felt like the logical next step. My Third and Fourth Form years I was very shy [and] didn’t hang out in the common room. So in Fifth Form, on the first day of school, I sat myself at the counter and did homework. Eventually I branched out and even started doing peer tutoring here. I like that I have grown into this person who’s able to interact with those around me very comfortably and be seen, especially by the younger students, as someone they can look up to and as a resource.
B Block with Dr. G
I’m very big on science, and part of my ASEP [Applied Science and Engineering Program] project on human genomics applies to some of the units in the Human Anatomy & Physiology I’m taking with Dr. G. My internship over the summer was at Johns Hopkins, studying the molecular basis of hereditary aneurysm disorders. For my ASEP capstone in the fall, the lab sent me these cells that I had been culturing all summer to continue growing. I got some results and gained a lot of knowledge!
Another Side of the Sciences
E block is Science, Philosophy and Religion with Dr. Duclos. I wasn’t sure about it at first because I’m just not a big humanities person, but we started right in on a big debate about science and religion: how do we define both, how do they intersect, how do they conflict? One student brought up an interesting point about the ethics of introducing your children to religion, and I found myself playing devil’s advocate for both sides!
F Block: An Artistic Outlet
Theater is a big outlet for me, especially when all my classes are very academically concentrated. If I am stressed about homework or a project coming up … when I’m on stage, that just doesn’t matter. The theater building is a place I can go to kind of turn all that off, at least for two hours a day.
Mentoring and More
On Mondays, I participate in the Friends Youth Mentoring Program. Kids from an elementary school in Concord come to SPS and we get paired up with them for two years. I really love the program and my mentee, who’s 11. We hang out, we have fun, sometimes she’s got things she wants to say to me or advice she wants, and I’m happy to give it. Other times we kind of just chill. And our birthdays are one day apart!
