Laney Antkiewicz ‘19:

“I met my host sister from Germany, Maja, through my other friend Chelsea that I’d met in Religion class and we weren’t really friends until she had me over for new years where we actually became friends. Maja really helped me out when I needed a new host family in Germany; it was really brave of her to fight for my cause when she barely knew me. She didnt have to do it but she did, and we’re literally sisters now. She visited me and everything over the summer. I remember I made a group chat with her and Chelsea, asking if I could live with one of them for the next semester. It was a really long shot, considering I’d just met them. But Maja said yes. Later, when she visited me this year, she told me that she begged her parents and told them some lie to convince them to say yes. When she told me at the time she basically just said ‘yeah you can stay’ and that was the end of it”

Elise Husemann ‘20:

If I could tell my freshman self one thing, it would be to study more. I could have gotten way better grades freshman year than I did just because I never studied for anything. I wish I would have put in the effort because regardless of what people say, freshman grades do matter and the study habits you form for yourself will help you so much in the long run. I think I didn’t study because I had gotten by so easily in middle school and I just didn’t have any motivation to; I literally didn’t know how to and wasn’t willing to put in the work to figure out what worked for me. I think I spent more time watching videos on how to study than actually studying. I fixed it really recently actually by figuring out that studying with friends really works for me. It doesn’t for everyone but for me we help each other stay on task and help each other. Honestly the hardest part is just sitting down and being determined to actually focus and achieve something”

Austin Castle ‘21:

“There are lots of positives and negatives to school. I like it only because of the fact that you can meet new people and see people that you wouldn’t normally see out of school. I also like it because you can explore and learn new things, but there’s a downside too. Having to take classes that you don’t want to take and having to stress about those classes is what I don’t like. I would probably enjoy school a lot more if we got to choose all our classes instead of having to take classes that I’ll never need to use further down the line. For me, that’s Spanish; It’s very repetitive, like you learn the vocab then study it, practice it all then take a test. I personally like change and want something different everyday. I do like algebra because no day is like another which keeps me on my toes and it’s a lot more fun.”

Tiernan Kelly ‘22:

“To me, I feel like nothing is better than just listening to music while hiking up a hill or mountain. I usually don’t get to hike around here, only on vacation, which is why I like it. I started in Kenya, where we hiked a mountain and then had lunch on the top on the mountain. Even though that was fun, my favorite time was when I went with my uncle Marty, my cousin Beecher Dunne ’19, my sister Mattigan Kelly ’18 and a family friend Liv, where we went hiking in Phoenix; it was super fun. My favorite part is definetely getting to the top and just having a good time with the people I’m with. My least favorite part would be falling… it hasn’t happened but if it did, I can imagine it wouldn’t be a great time.”