Last spring, I had the humanities class World War II with Mr. Soule during A Block. He taught my dad when he was a student here! I was the only Fifth Former in a class of Sixth Formers so it was an interesting dynamic. I went to ninth and tenth grade in Arizona, and when I came to SPS, I chose to repeat Fourth Form year. Because I’d already fulfilled some credits, I was able to take more humanities electives like this one. Most of the upper-level humanities classes are discussion based — and really fun.
“It was sort of startling when I came to SPS and everyone seemed really good at something. I didn’t have something in particular that I was coming here to focus on and felt like, ‘I don’t have this one thing!’ But I ended up finding new things I was super interested in when I got here.”
Sebastian, Sixth Former
Before coming to SPS, I didn’t understand that there was creativity to math, but I have found that you have to be creative to find solutions to problems. The stuff we’re learning in Multivariable Calculus Honors all builds on itself and nothing is arbitrary; if you need to memorize things, it’s in order to understand something.”
Sebastian, Sixth Former
Advanced Biology: Exercise Physiology
This year I’m in Molecular Biology, but Exercise Physiology with Dr. G was maybe my favorite class last year. For one lesson, we did a dissection lab of a pig’s heart. For another, we got to test our VO2 max by running on a treadmill while hooked up to a gas analyzer. We learned about carb loading, how and why it works, how to raise your anaerobic threshold and how to raise your VO2 max and how those are related. As a rower, learning that stuff has helped me train better.
Meet Sebastian’s Exercise Physiology teacher, Dr. Theresa Gerardo-Gettens, in the video below.
On the Waterfront
I learned how to row as a Fourth Former — every afternoon I would go out and row, sometimes with one of my closest friends. I’ve been a varsity rower for both of my spring seasons so far, and in the spring, after classes I go to the AFC, get changed and run down to the boathouse with my crew. When we’re out on the water, it’s not that you don’t have to think about anything else, it’s that you don’t get to, because it really screws up the rowing and you have seven other guys trying to lock in and take the best stroke they can.
Peer Connections
I learned how to knit last summer and it quickly became a passion of mine, so when I learned there was no knitting club at SPS, I decided to make one! We’re hoping to make hats over the summer that we can donate to the homeless community here in Concord as a fun way to make an impact and engage.
I’m also a peer tutor in Chinese, and I get to work with my two tutees one evening a week. I really enjoy it because I get to share the knowledge I have and learn new things from them. I studied Chinese prior to SPS and Chinese Seminar with Ms. Li is one of my favorite classes; she saw an ounce of potential in me and was like, I want to unlock it.
Dinner and homework with friends
I don’t really plan when I’ll go to meals; I just go and find someone to sit down with. That’s how I ended up making friends with some of the Chinese students. They were surprised I could speak Chinese and that was an ego boost — until they started speaking and I understood nothing. After dinner I go to the library or Chapel Lawn and work on homework with friends — we get to talk and do some work before heading back to the dorm. Every evening when I check in, I go to my friend Jerry’s room across the hall and I do the rest of my work on his yoga mat. We might not even talk; we just sit and do our work.
