A senior at St. Margaret’s this year, Emma has participated in a diverse array of activities, has taken many unique classes, and puts a smile on people’s faces wherever she goes. Emma has been the president of STEAM Club since her sophomore year, and loves leading the club in activities such as fetal rat and pig dissections, volunteering at school events like the Girls in STEAM Symposium and Lower School Science Night, and hosting fundraiser events like the recent Oil-Spill awareness bake sale. Emma has also been a member of the robotics team for the past two years, and did an internship at UCI last summer working with post-doctoral students in the biomedical engineering department.
Furthermore, Emma is also really interested in art, music, and theater. She loves drawing in her free time and particularly likes making art for her family and friends as holiday presents. She specializes in graphic design and canvas paintings. Emma has also been playing piano for ten years, and describes it as “a way of life” for her. She has performed piano at almost every Coffee House Cabaret, is a member of the honors Jazz Band program at St. Margaret’s, and enjoys being on the tech crew for St. Margaret’s musicals. Most recently, Emma and some of her outside-of-school piano friends teamed up to found the OC branch of an organization called Love Through Music, which works to spread joy in underserved communities (such as children and the elderly) through musical performances and music theory lessons.
Despite her many extracurricular involvements, Emma has also had time to take lots of interesting classes at St. Margaret’s. One of the most unique classes she took was AP Music Theory in her freshman year. She remembers it being a small class, learning about chord progressions, and the day that Mr. Carbajal and the class made steak together at the end of the year. Emma’s favorite class at St. Margaret’s was English III Honors because of how passionate Ms. Bunch is about every book and topic, from the American Romantics to Moby-Dick. She also loved the Moby-Dick creative project because she thought it really “brought out everyone’s super-creative side,” considering the Minecraft worlds, Latin poems, music videos, and student-coded games that her class came up with. Emma has also enjoyed taking AP Calculus AB with Mrs. O'Shea, and is currently taking AP Physics C: Mechanics with Dr. T. Although these classes are challenging , she thinks that the great teachers really help guide everyone through.
Overall, Emma has learned and grown a lot during her time in high school. She advises freshmen to minimize procrastination and to try “lots of different activities” even if “they aren’t things you usually like.” As for rising juniors starting the college search, she says “to do as much of the college application as possible over the summer, especially the more general information” to make the start of senior year easier. Right now, Emma is looking forward to candle lighting, which “never fails to make her cry” and is the stage director for Mama Mia this spring. As for some fun facts, Emma says that she hates avocados (to the extent that she will remove them from California rolls), has mild misophonia, and recently watched Mean Girls for the first time.
Thank you, Emma, for interviewing with The Margazine! We loved hearing about your St. Margaret’s high school experience!
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
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