I started in the 9th grade, and I really liked how much emphasis they placed on community here. They also really stressed how available the teachers were, and that was really important to me.

The relationships with my teachers. They are all so welcoming and make themselves available so much. Though I had good relationships with a lot of my teachers, I had a really good relationship with Mrs. Keleher. I had her for two years for Latin and she made every class fun and interesting, even though we were studying the same grammar. She also just cares so much about her students. She would always ask me about how my other classes were going, how my college application process was going, and even how I was doing in my sports and how my family was. When I told her I was an all-star cheerleader, she even asked me to send her videos of my team, because that's how much she cared about not only my academic life, but my life. She was just so sweet, and such a great person for me to go to talk about anything.

I’m going to Vanderbilt. I haven’t picked a major yet, but I’ll be in pre-med and major in a science.

Definitely. My middle school focused more on English and grammar, so when I came to Thayer in 9th grade I didn’t really have a strong background in science and math. These two departments are really exceptional, and the teachers are so available to you. I didn’t realize how much I liked math and science until I came here and had such great resources.

I've been thinking about college, really, for as long as I can remember. It's always been a dream of mine to go to a good school. The college counselors were just so available to me. I remember when I had an early application due November 1st, I emailed my essay to Ms. Woods to have her read over. It was four days before the deadline, and she was on vacation but she read it and sent it back with edits. She was so willing to go the extra mile to help me out, so that definitely helped and just made the process a lot smoother.

Pre-calculus honors with Mr. Forrest my junior year. It’s difficult material to begin with, but he really pushes you to think for yourself, more than any teacher I’ve ever had. When you ask for help, he’s willing to help you, but he’s never going to point you to the answer. He will make sure you get there on your own. While you’re in the class it’s so hard, but senior year in my math class I did so much better because I was able to think for myself.

I really like Winter Wars because everybody just gets so excited about it, especially this year because our class won. Everybody was so into it all four days and people you don't even talk to are hugging you and high-fiving you. [Click here to learn about the Winter Wars tradition at Thayer.]

I’ve done All-Star cheerleading since I was in the 6th grade. We do 2-minute routines with tumbling and dancing. It’s fun. I’ll be on the team at Vanderbilt. They play all the big Southern schools, so those will be some fun games to be at.