Cambridge Public Schools

Extra Curricula
I'm a member of photo club. I also tutor at RAUC through CSV.

Favorite Class at CRLS
English or Math. I loved Calculus at Rindge. It was a math unlike anything that I'd ever done in class before. It was interesting and forced me to think in different ways. I loved Calc because it was so new, so unique, so intriguingly beautiful.

My other favorite subject was English, specifically my AP Lang class. In the spring of my junior year I started to have a fascination with words, with the ability to take the time to choose my words properly so I could say what I wanted concisely but poetically (in a way that people wanted to read even if they didn't agree). This class also featured assignments that I wanted to do. I got to write about sex education in the American education system, The Starry Night, and the way that race plays out in CRLS. This class opened my eyes to so many new ideas as well let me express my opinions in ways I didn't know that I could.

Favorite Teacher
I have two favorite teachers at CRLS: Ms. Milligan (for photography) and Ms. Sarmiento (for English). I had Ms. Milligan for three classes (Photo 1 and 3 as well as AP Photography). Every semester she encouraged me to better my creative eye and pushed me to expand my creative boundaries. Ms. Milligan was always available if I needed to talk - about photography or anything personal. She is brutally honest, she does not beat around the bush, does not try to claim that something is better than it is; if your photo is not up to par, she will tell you, directly and explicitly, and explain to you why. Ms. Milligan is incredibly easy to talk to, an amazing photography teacher, and very empathetic towards her students. She also brings in quite a bit of food, which never ceases to make my mornings a little better (and she makes bomb guac).

Ms. Sarmiento was my teacher for AP Lang and my advisor for my graduation project. During Lang she covered topics that I actually wanted to engage with and were present in our society such as gender roles, mass incarceration, and gun laws. She challenged us to always think about what people arguing against us would think as well as giving us creative assignments. While we did write a lot, and I didn't love some of the assignments, they were open ended and allowed me to express myself in a way that many other classes did not. She's very easy to talk to and has allowed me to look at my writing in a different way, one that makes me evaluate whether I am saying what I actually want and need to say.

What are some of the out-of-school time (OST) programs that you participated in between grades 6 - 12?
I do pottery at a studio in Somerville. I climb at Central Rock Cambridge, and enjoy running Spartan races with my brother.

How did being enrolled in any OST program(s) contribute to your success in and out of high school?
N/A

What did you like most about CRLS? Why?
I really liked the people. I went to a small Quaker school where I knew each of the twenty seven kids in my grade since kindergarten. Rindge offered me more people, from places that I'd never been and upbringings different than my own. I enjoyed hearing opinions different from mine in class debates, hearing things I would never have thought about because it was not how I was raised. But I also liked that even though kids at Rindge are different in many ways there's also threads between groups. Never would you find more than two or three kids from my photo class together outside of school, but everyone gets along because of our mutual love of photography. I also really liked my guidance counselor, Mr. Weathersby, worked so hard to make sure that I had the classes that I wanted and had the best, happiest experience I could at Rindge. And, it's really nice to take art classes and not be required to pay for materials.

What is something people unfamiliar with CRLS should know about the school? Why? 
We have a program within our school for English Language Learners. It encompasses more than a hundred students at Rindge. They are all really interesting and many have backgrounds and upbringings that I cannot even begin to fathom. I TAed a Structured English Immersion Algebra 1 class senior spring. It was one of the most gratifying experiences that I've had at Rindge. The students in these classes are so kind and appreciative. They say good morning and ask me how my day is when I walk in, they say thank you whenever I've helped them, even if it's just a question of what they're meant to be doing. These classes are something that I didn't know about until December and I wish that someone had told me sooner.

Advice to Incoming Freshmen
Talk with your teachers before/after class, they want to know what's going on in your life and it's really fun to stop by when you're no longer in their class; you are under no obligation to like the things that everyone else likes; when you can, go to sleep early, you'll be thankful for the good night's rest; it's perfectly acceptable to stay home Friday nights and read a book or watch Netflix; don't worry about the pimple on your face, your outfit, or if something you said in class was 'wrong', everyone is so preoccupied with themselves to remember what you said or care how you looked; if you need to take a mental health day, do it; and most importantly, walk on the right side of the hallway.

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