Tue 13 Jun 2006
These articles aren’t worth reading, but two soon-to-be first years make an appearance.
Senior class speaker Leah Katzelnick, a 4.0 student who will attend Williams College in the fall, said she’s excited to see what her peers do in the future.
“We ought to be proud that we stand out as an extraordinary group,” she said.
[Eric] Anderson, a 6-foot-1, 215-pound closer, is headed for Williams College to play baseball and football.
If Katzelnick’s speech (or any similar speech made by an incoming Eph) were available, we would be pleased to post it or link to it. Also, I am eager to find a football player who would be interested in blogging an Eph Football Diary over the coming season. That’s a tough order for a first year, but if Anderson wants to write, we want to read.
2006-06-18 08:23:19
If you go to blogger.com and type ‘williams college high school graduation’, you get the text of the speech of a future Eph… I think its pretty good. Don’t know anything about the student though.
2006-06-18 19:44:15
Another nice blurb on a future Eph from the Boston Globe Spring all-scholastic feature:
To describe everything that Baldiga is good at, there just isn’t enough room to write the entire story. There are chapters from basketball courts, tracks, fields, classrooms, testing centers, youth basketball camps, Special Olympics events, state science fairs, and peer leader meetings. There is one short story, however, that sums up Baldiga: She is good at most things she does. She’s a valedictorian with a 4.679 GPA on a 4.0 scale. She scored a 710 on two vastly different SAT II tests (US History and chemistry). She plays three different sports. As a forward on the varsity basketball team, she has been a three-year Tri-Valley All-Star and was this year’s conference MVP, as well as the two-time team MVP; a three-year Tri-Valley All-Star throwing the javelin and shot put for the track team, and a Tri-Valley All-Star and captain as a stopper on the soccer team. ”Kristen’s success comes from continually making the right decisions and performing at her peak, regardless of the conditions,” said class advisor Michael A. Donahue. ”It is this kind of competitive success that delineates Kristen from her peers.”
See: http://www.boston.com/sports/schools/allscholastics/spring2006/scholar_athletes/
2006-06-18 20:51:25
710 on 2 different SAT IIs isn’t quite what I’d expect a valedictorian with a 4.68/4.0 GPA to get. In fact, I’d be surprised if that was even average at Williams for those who have taken those tests, even accounting for the self-selection effect who have those exams over the AP tests. And who takes the US History SAT II instead of the US History AP? I mean, seriously.
2006-06-18 22:12:51
Are we unreasonably burdening these young people with expectations?
2006-06-18 22:43:17
if you’re going to take the AP US History test, you take the SAT II in US History as well because in studying for the AP, one does more prep than is normally necessary for the less difficult (for most people) SAT II. Its a very common strategy for high school students. I know I did it with all my AP tests.
2006-06-19 07:05:41
Are you serious??? Cracking 700, particularly on chemistry (which attracts some of the best students out there) is no joke for anyone. But when you’re, umm, a little busy being among the best players in your conference in three different varsity sports, plus managing to finish as valedictorian and still find time for some other activities, it’s especially impressive — it’s not like she had the extra hours to devote to her SAT studying or anything. Sheesh.
2006-06-19 09:00:17
Anyone find texts to any more grad speeches by future ephs? Anyone else read the one I linked to?