Byfield Happenings
Chat Where are you from? I’m from Mohegan Lake, NY. It’s about forty-five minutes north of New York City.
How did you learn about Govs? For middle school, I went to Fay School in Southborough, MA and the secondary school counselor told me that a lot of Fay kids went to Govs and loved it. I also talked with some Fay students who went on to Govs.
What will you really miss about Govs? The community here. All of the relationships I’ve made with teachers and students—I’ll definitely miss that.
As a senior, what advice would you have given to your freshman self? I would say make sure you’re working hard, but don’t kill yourself! It makes the transition to sophomore and junior year a lot easier. Put yourself in a good position, so that when you make that transition it’s smooth.
Faculty member or coach you look up to?
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My advisor Mrs. Hamovit has been awesome. I had her (as a teacher) sophomore, junior, and senior years. She’s always been someone who I can bounce ideas off of—even now as I’m deciding which classes to take next year at college. She’s someone I can always go to and she’s the person I have relied on the past four years.
with Afoma Maduegbuna ’17 PHOTO BY DAVID OXTON.
What activities/programs/sports are you involved in at Govs?
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I’m a proctor in Doggett. I run indoor and outdoor track. I directed the Special Olympics (soccer tournament at Govs) in the fall with Alex Eliasen ’17. This year my friend Kate Nickodemus ’17 and I reignited the club “SWAGA”
which stands for “Strong Women at The Governor’s Academy” and that’s been a lot of fun. It’s been so great to have a lot of younger female students come to the meetings, and boys will come to learn what they can do.
What was a favorite class at Govs? It’s a tie between AP US History with Mrs. Slater and AP English Language and Composition with Mrs. White. I’ve never learned US History in such depth before. It was so interesting and fast paced and I worked with other students, who were also really into it. I really liked English because every Friday we would have something called
and discuss ways we could improve as a school. We mainly focus on issues here at Govs, but sometimes branch out into what’s going on in the world now.
Where are you going to college next year and how many colleges did you apply to? I am going to Williams College. I got into Dartmouth College too, so I thought “which do I go to!?” I revisited both and I loved Dartmouth, I really did, but the feeling I got at Williams was overwhelming and was a better fit. I applied to twelve colleges—mostly small New England liberal arts colleges, and Northwestern was the outlier.
I think a moment of courage for me at Govs was starting SWAGA (Strong Women at Governor’s Academy). “perspectives” where we would choose a controversial topic and we would have to find the conservative viewpoint, the liberal viewpoint, and some kind of satirical viewpoint. Our class was split down the middle (politically) so it was fun to hear where people sided. It made for an invigorating Friday morning!
Tell us about a moment of courage you had during your time at Govs. I think a moment of courage for me at Govs was starting SWAGA (Strong Women at Governor’s Academy) with Kate Nickodemus ’17. I wasn’t sure how it was going to be perceived and whether people would come or if people would just roll their eyes, but it ended up being one of the most rewarding experiences of my time at Govs! It was just awesome to have a space where girls could talk about their struggles at Govs,
What do you plan to study in college? I want to double major in humanities and sciences. Right now I’m thinking of history and computer sciences. I love English. I love writing, reading, and learning about history. AP US History was one of my favorite courses here. On the other side, I like how concrete and analytical the math and sciences are. My senior spring term project is doing javascript and I’ve had a lot of fun putting that together.
What are you most excited about for college? I’m excited and nervous. I’m really comfortable here at Govs so to create that whole community feeling again gives me a little anxiety. I’m excited because there are so many class options —I can take whatever I want!
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