As the child of a special education teacher in China, Hongjin Chen ’24 says her mother helped her understand at an early age the value of loving and respecting those with physical and mental differences.
Category: Student Profiles
When Andrés Palacios Constanza ’25 reflects on his childhood in Guatemala, one of his favorite memories involves drawing. He and his brother attended arts classes as a chance to find their creative voices, and this gave Constanza the opportunity to draw freely for the first time. He loved it so much that he envisioned his
When AJ Schwartz ’26 moved to Chicago to study theater at Loyola University, they found more than the right degree program in The Windy City—they also found their creative community. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2017, Schwartz served as a freelance director and arts administrator for some of the city’s most notable storefront
While Zahra Freedman ’24 was always surrounded by music as a child, she often felt like it was being placed in front of her through structured experiences like classical piano and band lessons—not like she was intentionally moving toward it. Instead, she enjoyed creative writing, participating in national writing competitions and developing short stories on
When Minh Hà Millie Lê ’24 was young, she imagined a career as a difference-maker. A Vietnamese third-culture kid, Lê has always been curious about people. She participated in student government and served as student body president, volunteered, and was part of Model United Nations, hoping to one day serve on the United Nations (UN)
With a fascination for film and an undergraduate degree in economics, Yuhan Liu ’24 felt like she was always looking for common ground between her studies and her love for creative industries. Although she was studying finance in college, pursuing a bachelor’s from Beijing’s University of International Business and Economics, she didn’t forget how much
Growing up, Ali Almansour ’24 could often be found amid groups of students who were eager to hear him read his latest short story or pore over a journal entry he had written over the weekend. “I’ve always felt like writing is my superpower,” says Almansour. “I love using writing to tell people about experiences
Growing up in Beijing, China, education for Kexin (Virginia) Liu ’24 was more about theory and less about practical application. This teaching approach wasn’t the best fit for someone who preferred to dance instead of study.
Rachel Garoon ’24 sometimes feels like she speaks music better than she speaks English. In addition to playing a slew of instruments ranging from piano and violin to clarinet, she also sang in middle school and high school. “It was a high school choir teacher who, upon hearing me sing, said, ‘I think it would
When he was only 14, Ugochukwu Achara ’24 moved from his home country of Nigeria to the United States with two goals in mind: to accelerate his education and to play soccer. He attended private school for a year before finishing his high school diploma at Berkshire School in Massachusetts. From there, he came to