gms community
William S. Thomas Prize Andy Andrews Alex Duh Ethan Hoskins John Maragakis Nichi Pandey
Asher Cordish Gregory Diette John Floersheimer Nathan Hedgecock Ben Levinson Varun Maheshwari Xander Martin John McGowan Parker Pearce Lucas Yim Tyler Witherspoon Morgan Zinn
Colonel William Miller Teammate Award Andy Andrews Evan Gilbert John McGowan
Andrew Diehl Ben Levinson Luke Morrill Khai Wilson
Gregory Diette Xander Martin Neddy Wight Tyler Witherspoon
Daniel C. Ammidon Award - Sixth Gr ade Nico Adamo Tyler Deane Thomas Gammie Antonio Mendez-Trendler William Smith
Auden Alsop Cole Emry Alex Gray-Rice Wayne Nelms
Ryan Blumenfeld Andrew Gaag Benson Harlan Charlie Nuermberger Max Sternlicht
Daniel C. Ammidon Award - Seventh Gr ade Zack Anderson Wallace Halpert Saijai Kaushal Ben Peake Jack Tortolani
Nick Boucher Devin Grinnage Jason Hossfeld Daniel Khurgin Aaron Lieberman Piyush Mavanur Matt Rodgville Jackson Tacka Connor Vogel
Daniel C. Ammidon Award - Eighth Gr ade Andy Andrews Hank Bethel Max Cortezi Andrew Diehl Gregory Diette John Floersheimer Jonathan Haywood Seth Hardy Grant Holmes Saad Jalisi Rich Kim Folahan Koleosho Alex Lawson Ben Levinson Varun Maheshwari John Maragakis Xander Martin Avery Merlo Luke Morrill Andrew Nathans Nichi Pandey Parker Pearce Wade Perry Elie Soueid Tyler Witherspoon Morgan Zinn
2015 NATIONAL LATIN EX AM Summa Cum Laude Finn Arthur John Floersheimer Rich Kim Noah Seth
Gregory Diette Robert Fuchs Sean Kim Tyler Witherspoon Morgan Zinn
Alex Duh Ethan Hoskins Xander Martin Lucas Yim
Maxima Cum Laude Andy Andrews Jed Brummett Aleksei Guzman Folahan Koleosho Aaron Lieberman John McGowan Nichi Pandey Elie Soueid
Chase Baker Asher Cordish Kenny Ihenatu Alex Lawson Varun Maheshwari Avery Merlo Cole Philippou Max Verheyen
William Bolin Finn Council Saad Jalisi Ben Levinson John Maragakis Luke Morrill Aidan Radinsky Khai Wilson
three-year middlemen award Grant Holmes Rich Kim Alex Lawson Michael Spencer Morgan Zinn
Ethan Hoskins Sean Kim John McGowan Cameron Ward
team, and learned that I was an athlete, regardless of which sport I chose. And then it was on to eighth grade. One of the first experiences this year was Ex8. When we came back in August, Ex8 loomed and was omnipresent; it was all we thought about at first. Full disclosure: I wasn’t so excited for the trip – away from home, dirty, rainy perhaps, and worse to me and, I’m sure, many of my classmates was that I would have to interact with, be with, hike with, tent with people in my class I thought I didn’t know - even worse, people who I thought didn’t like me. You see, by the first three months of eighth grade, by my second year of middle school, I had decided something: I had decided that I was different. I ran. I swam. I sang. I acted. I didn’t play “popular” sports. I said “fabulous” and wore sparkly ties. I preferred talking with teachers to playing on the turf. I had a group of female friends that was equal to or greater in number than my group of male friends. I was sure I had it all figured out, that was who I was, and if you weren’t cool with it, I was sure the problem was with you, not me. Despite my...our...worries, Ex8 came and went with some amazing experiences. I climbed to the top of Spruce Knob, and Elie Soueid and I were supported and cheered through the dreaded Wormhole. But Ex8 was the beginning of learning about ourselves and was so much more than a week of reality show survival meets middle school boy. Months later, here I am at our commencement, the end of this first stage of enlightenment, and here’s my profound thought: We have NO IDEA who we are yet. If you listen to a single thing I say, it’s this: we cannot stop learning, cannot stop changing, cannot stop redefining who we are because when we stop we doing those things, that’s when we stop evolving as humans. We die - not like actually ‘die’ but you get the hyperbole. We stop ‘being’. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Our lives begin to end the day we stop caring about things that matter.” In the words of Mr. Gabbey – a presence that will be missed incredibly, not least of all by myself – be excellent in everything you do, and excellently do everything you can, even if it means relinquishing a definition of yourself you thought you had nailed down for sure. I am not done. We are not done.
What’s next? We’re going to high school. Five years ago, high school was basically as real as Greek mythology is to us now. And in five more years, we will be in college. We have to stick together in high school. We have the potential to be an incredible class, if we try. If we reach out to each other and make new friendships - really make new friendships - with people we thought we might never like, they might surprise you. I will promise to try to make those new connections in the next four years. High school is new and scary and big. Of course it is, but that’s so not a bad thing. Two of my best friends out of a self-imposed small group are leaving this school, and I wish them the best of luck. However, as much as I may miss them, instead of being scared and overly sad, I am excited to bond with members of the Class of 2019 that for the past two years I’ve studiously and deliberately not known. Another moment of honesty: I was so paranoid I was being judged for so long that I kept to myself and my few closest friends. I realize now that my fear of being judged might mean that I have not given many/ some of you guys enough credit. I hope that we can all get to know each other better so that we can have a more productive, more fun student life in the Upper School. I’m just about out of time - I think Mr. Lander is cuing up the band to play me off but I have one more thing to leave you with. Speaking of music...I love musicals... like really love them. To me, they are the most effective form of communicating a beautiful message, no matter what that message may be. Perhaps the best known musical of the last decade is Wicked, which follows the life of the young Wicked Witch of the West, Elphaba, who isn’t your average girl. I have always related to Elphaba and loved this musical for more than it’s fantastic score. This is a line from the big number before intermission, “Defying Gravity”: “So if you can’t find me, look to the western sky! As someone told me lately: ‘Everyone deserves the chance to fly!’ And if I’m flying solo, at least I’m flying free. To those who’d ground me, take a message back from me: Tell them how I am defying gravity, I’m flying high, defying gravity. And soon I’ll match them in renown! And nobody in all of Oz, no Wizard that there is or was is ever gonna bring us down!” Here’s to less flying solo and more flying free!
photo courtesy of DAbrams
photo courtesy of DAbrams
photo courtesy of DAbrams
Hank Bethel Saad Jalisi Folahan Koleosho Noah Seth
commencement (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1)
photo courtesy of DAbrams
2014-2015 GMS AWARD RECIPIENTS
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photo courtesy of DAbrams
C
issue 7, may-june 2015
At left: top, Class of 2019 winners of the William S. Thomas Prize; bottom, 2019 winners of the Colonel William Miller Teammate Award; at right: from top, eighth gr ade winners of the Daniel C. Ammidon Award; seventh gr ade -winners of the Daniel C. Ammidon Award; sixth gr ade winners of the Daniel C. Ammidon