Declan Dean

Germantown Academy

Look up.

It sounds simple, I know. But traveling through Europe for my senior project, I kept discovering that the most breathtaking and surprising things were always hiding just above eye level. Every single time I remembered to look up, I was rewarded.

What happens when you look up? Studies show that simply looking upward primes the brain for feelings of healing, hope, and positive affect.

Look up.

Look up to mentorship. Look up for friendship and connection. Look up toward building community. Look up from the phone. (I know I sound like “Unc,” but we have the world at our front door. There are so many connections to be made up here.)

Look up.

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Nina Sager

Germantown Academy

People often try to place us into neat, familiar boxes — “The Breakfast Club” version of “an athlete,” “a brain,” “a princess,” “a basket case,” or “a criminal.”

But the truth is, none of us fit neatly into one category, and we shouldn’t want to. Some of the most rewarding moments I’ve had during my time at GA have been witnessing myself and others redefine the boundaries of being many things at once.

So, who am I? Well, I’d like to think I’m occasionally funny, intelligent, caring, energetic, sometimes quiet, passionate, genuine, creative, hopefully a little weird, and constantly changing. You are more than three friendships, three test grades, three days, or three words. So then let me leave you with the scariest three words of all: Who are you?

Honestly, I hope you never fully figure that out.

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Rainer Malhotra

William Penn Charter School

I think making a difference comes down to one thing, which is often frowned upon nowadays: caring. Not simply caring, but caring too much. Caring too much about your studies. Celebrating too enthusiastically when your friends succeed. Dancing so much that you’re a sweaty mess. Telling your loved ones too often how much you love them.

In today’s world, where hate and profit go hand-in-hand, too often what’s most important, love, is rationed out like we have a limited supply. I strongly believe you can never truly love too much.

If we frame the world through the understanding that we can not be embarrassed by caring too much, if we frame the world through lenses that put love as the end goal, as the paramount purpose, we’re guaranteed to lead fulfilling lives that make a difference.

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Mimi Ohemeng

William Penn Charter School

A couple weeks ago, Mr. Ford said something that ... got me thinking about all of the people and things I’ve seen around this campus these past 13 years.

I remember seeing the blue playground for the first time. I couldn’t have even begun to imagine how many fairy houses we would build there. I remember winter days in lower school, none of us foreseeing that the hill that we slid down on those snowy days would one day mark this very spot I am standing on.

Hindsight is 20/20, but we can’t quite see what lies ahead of us in the future. But I think it’s better that way! The best moments are the ones that you can’t predict, can’t begin to imagine, and have yet to see. Even when you think you can see what’s coming next, you very well may be wrong!