Farewell, Class of 2022: The Radnorite Senior Edition
June 9, 2022
The Class of 2022 has officially graduated, ending the high school careers of the 309 graduates.
This highly anticipated day marks our equally exciting and intimidating venture into the real world — if we can call it that. So much of high school is spent discussing building students up to be ready for the real world, leaving many of us like Rapunzel in Tangled, singing “when will my life begin.” We are taught, warned, and prepared for this “real world.” Now, facing that real world, it seems like a lot less separates us from it when we are in high school than popular sentiment suggests. At our 8th-grade graduation, Dr. Bachelor suggested that the idea of school preparing us for “the real world” was a myth, because the real world was already around us – after graduating, this still rings true.
Like many of us, I’ve been a student in Radnor public schools since day 1 in kindergarten. I remember asking what the number “22” meant at the end of my computer login. When my teachers explained that it was the year I would graduate, it seemed abstract and hypothetical, like a discussion about extraterrestrial life or string theory. I’m sure none of us thought much about the end of our time in Radnor schools because we were too busy with reading corner, field day, and particularly for the other RES kids, the 4th-grade circus, and the 5th-grade musical.
High school experiences often fall on opposite ends of a spectrum — “the greatest days of my life” or “thank God it’s over,” — and I’m not sure where I fall. Looking back, it’s easy to romanticize the hallowed halls of Radnor High and find sentimental value in small moments, all while forgetting the negative pieces. Though on paper I’ve been successful in high school, by no means was it always the best of times, or even enjoyable.
At the end of my freshman year, I didn’t know that I would make it to graduation day, at least in Radnor. I would come home every day and research other options for high school. Private schools, boarding schools, I even found a semester-long study abroad trip to Thailand that I was dead-set on. Most of my frustrations stemmed from feeling like I had no pieces of the real world to surround myself with. In a letter I wrote to myself at the end of my freshman year for health class, which all the graduates recently received, I wrote that “because I had no choice in the work I was completing for classes, I felt somewhat purposeless.”
Now, I would tell my freshman-year self to find her pieces of the real world and structure her passion and excitement around these pieces. I’m not sure if every piece of this frustration ever went away, but finding more parts of what felt like the “real world” to put into my life made this feeling of purposelessness more of an annoyance with certain tasks rather than a feeling of dismay at a seemingly unchangeable circumstance. Part of this discovery of the real world involved, ironically, Model United Nations, but especially the Radnorite and Crew. Journalism and rowing are now two pieces that make up the foundations of my real world. But that is not to say that the pieces of the real world that you find in high school must be useful for furthering your career or ambitions — there is immense value in finding a part of the real world merely because it is fun.
So much of this real world can also come from community. Construct community for yourself wherever possible — joining a new club (cliche but true), bonding will fellow students by supporting their passions, and inspiring passion in those around you — and welcome others who are seeking it.
This unsolicited advice is much easier said than done — trying to “find yourself,” I mean. But remember that there’s no rush and that finding things that make you happy or at least inspired daily comes first. Find something that when you’re doing it, you know there is nothing else you should be spending your time on that could be more valuable to yourself. In this pursuit, in the words of Taylor Swift, “Never be ashamed of trying. Effortlessness is a myth.” When you find something that drives you, never feel the need to hide that passion.
Above all, be easy on each other, because in the end, everyone is just trying to find themselves while surviving the social pressures and difficult circumstances surrounding them—most of the time that warrants some forgiveness.
To the Class of 2022, congratulations. I hope that we all might find a way for our greatest strengths and passions to serve our very real world’s greatest needs.
Thank you to the Radnorite for being my piece of the real world.
The following map shows the destinations of all the students in the Class of 2022 pursuing higher education, list of colleges was collected on an opt-in basis from students. This list does not aim to assign value to students’ achievements based on what college they are going to but hopes to record and share the vast variety of places that the Class of 2022 is setting off for.
Map from Nathan Kellerman.
Seniors’ Future Plans
Aaron Zhu – Cornell University
Aditya Dhingra – University at Buffalo
Aidan Leonard – University of Vermont
Aidan Scott – Gap Year
Ainsley Marinakos – University of Vermont
Alexa Green – University of Michigan
Ali Miltenberger – Villanova University
Amelia Reinholt – Colgate University Lacrosse
Amy Lee – Villanova University
Anika Jaswal – Northeastern University
Anjali Engstrom – Syracuse University
Ariana Moore – University of California San Diego
Audrey Collins – Colgate University Swimming
Audrey Niedland – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Audrey Rasmussen – College of William & Mary
Austin Johnson – Cornell University
Ava Gallia – Lafayette College
Ava Gummel – Kutztown University
Avery Barber – American University Swimming
Avery Cellucci – Miami University
Beau Balitsaris – San Diego State University
Ben Hart – University of Florida
Brady Roselle – Coastal Carolina University
Caitlin Fram – University of Virginia
Caleb Eun – Drexel University
Cammi Goldenberg – Syracuse University
Caroline Birchler – San Diego State University
Caroline Constable – Barnard College
Casey Cullen – Auburn University Swimming
Cassidy Else – Temple University
Chase Stephano – Villanova University
Chloe Pepper – Pennsylvania State University
Chris Tufaro – Hillsdale College
Claudia Ball – Virginia Tech
Clifford Smith – Cabrini University Basketball
Connor O’Sullivan – West Chester University
Courtney Wolfington – Denison University Lacrosse
Daniel Tropeano – Northeastern University
Danielle Lomazoff – Northeastern University
Dave Kenney – Cabrini University Cross Country
Debby Armstrong – University of Pennsylvania
Elena Blumer – University of Arizona
Elize Budziak – University of Massachusetts-Amherst – Commonwealth Honors College
Ella von Czoernig – University of Pittsburgh
Ellie Davis – Williams College Rowing
Elyse Kim – University of Hawai’i at Manoa
Emilie Puopolo – McGill University
Emily Dressel – Pennsylvania State University
Emily Harris – University of Pittsburgh Honors
Emily Schultz – Syracuse University
Eric Vollmer – University of Florida
Erica Clarke – University of Michigan
Erik Speck – Pursuing music
Ethan Gutsche – Butler University
Fred Mehra – Temple University Crew
Gaven Williams – Carnegie Mellon University Track & Field
George Economides – Rutgers University
Grace Purcell – University of Miami
Halima Ghumman – Temple University
Hannah Baumgardner – Spelman College
Hope Delaney – Princeton University Field Hockey
Hyemin Oh – Thomas Jefferson University
Isabella Virdone – Maryland Institute College of Art
Jack Condran – Pennsylvania State University
Jason Trosset – Franklin and Marshall College Lacrosse
Jillian Matunis – University of Colorado Boulder
Jimmy Kurtz – College of William & Mary
Joey Scannapieco – Pennsylvania State University
Jonah Horwitz – University of Colorado Boulder
Josh Tessler – College of William & Mary
Josie Solomon – Northeastern University
Julia Morrison – Mount Holyoke College
Julie Breedveld – Gettysburg College Lacrosse
Justin Holley – Montclair State University
Justin Nourian – Brown University
Kaitlyn Lee – University of Pittsburgh
Karis Mameniskis – University of Pittsburgh
Karis Whitcomb – University of Colorado Boulder
Kassandra Ramirez – Temple University
Kelsey Moore – Elizabethtown College
Kelsey Wakiyama – College of William & Mary
Lanie Walsh – University of Alabama
Lauren Sciuchetti – University of Pittsburgh
Leah Weitzman – Indiana University
Leni Hartman – Tufts University
Lia Lenthall-Cleary – University of Pennsylvania
Lily Wagner – University of Colorado Boulder
Lindsay Feinberg – Duke University
Lucas Conlon – University of Miami
Lucy Henkel – Columbia University
Luke Curley – Pennsylvania State University
Luke Mallory – Tulane University
Madeline Bader – Pennsylvania State University
Madeline Plyler – Clemson University
Malie Dellorco – Pennsylvania State University
Manato Matsuoka – University of Pittsburgh
Margot Lane – Lehigh University
Mason Brown – University of Oklahoma
Meghan Moyer – Pennsylvania State University
Mia Coppola – University of Alabama
Minnie Madden – Connecticut College
Molly Haas – Lafayette College Lacrosse
Natalie Anfuso – Stevens Institute of Technology
Nathan Kellerman – Bowdoin College
Navya Ramesh – Temple University
Naza Monjur – Carnegie Mellon University
Neya Anand – George Washington University
Nick Heerkens – Pennsylvania State University
Nick LaVine – University of Pittsburgh
Nick Lucchesi – United States Air Force Academy Lacrosse
Noah Conen – Pennsylvania State University
Noah Simone-Dobin – Pennsylvania State University
Noelle Kuhn – Pennsylvania State University
Noor Shamsi-Basha – Cabrini University
Olivia Barker – Loyola University Maryland
Olivia Kelley – Lafayette College Lacrosse
Olivia Parrish – Pennsylvania State University
Patrick Mannix – Pennsylvania State University
Payton Breck – Boston University
Peyton Enderle – San Diego State University
Poppy Chauhan – West Chester University
Preston Breck – University of Southern California
Reese Hillman – Bates College
Riley Mazzalupi – Miami University Field Hockey
Rina Matsumoto – Sophia University
Robby Toomey – University of Colorado Boulder
Ryan Mathis – Pennsylvania State University
Ryan Movsowitz – Emory University
Ryan Webb – University of Tennessee
Sammy Carter – University of Tennessee
Sammy Cleary – Widener University
Sarah Khalil – University of Dayton
Sarah Wills – New York University
Sebastian Kaper – Boston College
Sebastian Moreland – Villanova University
Sebastian Stueck – Fordham University
Seneca Farhy – Fordham University
Shashank Yalamanchi – University of Texas at Dallas
Sofia Floody – John’s Hopkins University
Sophia Twohig – DeSales University
Sophie Hutchinson – Marymount Manhattan College
Tess Brennan – Emerson College
Tessa Klimowicz – Union College
Tien Tran – Villanova University
Tiki Schoenborn – Clemson University
Tilan B Ogutu- Pennsylvania State University
Vera Castro – St. Joe’s University
Vicky Defreitas – University of Miami
Will Gallagher – Notre Dame Lacrosse
Will Page – San Diego State University
Ygi Sanchez – University of Scranton
Zach Barbarisi – Bucknell University
Zach Moffa – Thomas Jefferson University
Zoriana Witmer – Pennsylvania State University
Most Popular Colleges:
Pennsylvania State University-Penn State Main Campus (30)
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus (15)
Temple University (12)
Drexel University (8)
Villanova University (8)
West Chester University of Pennsylvania (7)
University of Colorado Boulder (6)
Syracuse University (6)
William & Mary (5)
Northeastern University (4)
University of Pennsylvania (4)
San Diego State University (4)