MEGAN DEMOTT Greenwich Academy, class of 2018
In college I hope to… Get a Ph.D combining aerospace engineering and astrophysics, so merging space travel and theoretical physics. My career goal is to… Join the astronaut training program, or work at JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) at Cal Tech and NASA. They run the Mars Rover. I’d love to go to space one day and build my own spaceship. After I work for a while, I want to retire and become a college professor or a high school teacher. My recipe for academic success is to… Get at least 10 hours of sleep every night, and enjoy what I do. My greatest challenge thus far has been… My combined physics and calculus course this year, run by Stamford University. I’ve never been challenged so academically. I studied voraciously, and I saw my grades improve. I give back by… Being the former President of my school’s Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) last year. We
organized assemblies and other activities to create awareness. I’m a judge for the FLL (First Lego League) tournament for middle schoolers that my school’s Robotics Club runs. I’ve also been a Girl Scout since kindergarten, and I volunteer for STAR Cottage, an organization that offers a friendly and familial living environment to many disabled adults.. My favorite teacher is… Mr. Motland for English (my only non-STEM class last year), and Mrs. Cozza for math. She was instrumental in encouraging me to write my own math proof last summer for finding the derivative of an unfoiled polynomial in standard form. My role model is… My figure skating coach of eight years, Laura Vescovi. She pushes me to give my best even when I don’t feel like it. When I’m not studying or skating, you can find me… Working out at Prentiss, running cross-country or track, tap dancing or playing the drums.
If I could change the world...
I would make education more accessible to everyone.
The biggest challenge for teens today is… Overscheduling. People push and overstretch themselves too much in the name of college applications or parental pressure. Settling for a few activities that you really enjoy is the way to go. My guilty pleasure is… Watching The Office. The best family vacation I’ve been on was… Our trip to Mount Rushmore, and driving through the Badlands and Wyoming. My secret talent is… I can shake my eyes. My creative outlet is… Drawing with pencils and painting. Some people would think I’m… Very stressed because of all I do, but I’m pretty chill. I unwind with… TV, sleep, video games and sports. I aspire to learn… Stuff that hasn’t really been discovered before, such as new math proofs.