Lael Kill

Lael Kill

What is your first memory of Trinity?

My first memory of Trinity was when I came to the Open House in 2019. As a homeschooler, I felt reluctant to come to Trinity, but I remember being surprised that people my age (11 at the time) were singing with 17 and 18-year-olds – and they sounded good! I was also introduced to Mrs. Mbona, and thought she was the real-life Ms. Frizzle. I only really came to love the school once I was in it. The thing that truly charmed me into loving Trinity as much as I do now was experiencing the values of the school put into practice by teachers who never made me feel as stupid as certain textbooks and curriculums did when I was homeschooled.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed? Why?

Humane Letters 10 was the first class where I really was able to see how history and narrative stories entwined together to show the truth about a time period. Reading A Tale of Two Cities connected me with the emotion and heart of the people who lived at the time of the French Revolution in a way our lectures and discussions hadn’t quite. I love history because it is about human connection and legacy and not just facts.

What do you think makes Trinity Academy distinctive?

Its small size, because it makes our community so tight-knit. The teachers are considerate and are genuinely some of the most fascinating people to talk to, and other students go out of their way to make other people smile. It is actually plausible to know everyone's name, and you are given the opportunities to interact with people from every grade. It’s unique to see older students naturally mentoring kids years younger than them.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

I really enjoy morning prayer. When I was in my early years at Trinity, I loathed it because I had to stand so long and would frequently zone out. As I have gotten older, I have come to appreciate it a lot more because it is not only a way that teachers (and seniors at the end of the year) can mentor students in faith and share their knowledge, but it also creates familiarity between students and teachers. Before I even took a class with a teacher, I would know at least a little about them from hearing about their life at morning prayer. It makes the teachers not daunting authority figures, but just ordinary people with lives you can relate to, people just like you who just know a little (or a lot) more.

What is one class or subject you would not have taken on your own?

I have always been a pretty shy person, and would never have chosen to take Drama. It was really hard for me in junior year to go onstage, recite lines from Shakespeare while pretending to be an entirely different person, and hide who I was. It came as a surprise to me that in my senior play, I was cast in a big part. Maybe because I could relate to my character more, I got better at projection, facial expressions, and at truly acting! I actually think if I had been cast as a smaller part, I would have faded to the background like I did before. The class taught me that really all you need to make progress is the opportunity, and if you're given a responsibility, you can rise to the occasion.

What extracurriculars did you participate in? What have those experiences added to your life?

I have been in Trinitones since eighth grade. It is a joy to sing with so many lovely people. Trinitones has really taught me to appreciate the feelings different choral music can evoke and has also increased my confidence in singing over the years.

What was your favorite book you read in HL?

My Ántonia by Willa Cather has always been my favorite. It is one of the few books I have found that I really relate to in its description of friendship. It is also just one of the most beautifully written books we read at Trinity, with wonderful descriptions of landscapes and of people's personalities.

What advice would you give to an incoming student (one very much like yourself) about how to get the most out of Trinity?

Enjoy the process of learning. If you are always thinking about the next deadline and how to get the best grade, you will procrastinate, and you will cry. The best thing I learned how to do at Trinity is to act in the ways you would if you were enthusiastically interested in a topic, because then you actually do become interested in it.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

Next year I am attending the University of St Andrew's in Scotland, studying medieval history and archeology.

Josiah Wilson

Josiah Wilson

What is your first memory of Trinity?

I didn’t want to come to Trinity, despite the fact that I didn’t really fit in well at my public elementary school. It felt hard for me to find something in common with those classmates. It was tragic for me that I didn’t have a phone like they did. But I still did not want to leave. I remember feeling like everyone was so friendly at the Trinity sixth grade party at the start of the year. Even the girls talked to me!

What do you think makes Trinity Academy distinctive?

One way I think about it is that I feel that I’ve been equipped for meaningful discussions with anyone. As a younger student, the older students have taken all the courses you’re taking, so you have so much possibility for deep conversations about physics problems or HL books. Everybody is a part of the same culture and we have a shared experience to connect over. And it spreads even wider than just students. I never thought that I'd be able to hold a conversation with a middle schooler's parent who I don’t know, but, it turns out, I can.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

I love dance lessons and getting to do real social dances at the Spring Formal. It’s a neat life skill to have, and lessons seem to bring us all together. I was asked this year to teach the Imago Dei youth group how to swing dance. I wish it was more common! It brings all the grades together, helps us to be more comfortable with each other, and we get to put forward our best selves. And it happens at the end of the year when we’re all ready to celebrate with each other.

What have been your biggest challenges at Trinity as a high schooler?

I think the biggest problem has honestly been the work-life balance. Once you hit the realization that school is actually meaningful and life-building, then it becomes less of something you dread. Up through about ninth grade, I thought school was not very fun. The change was a lot of individual switches all getting flipped. I started trying harder because my parents got on my case about my evaluation not being very good. Then I had Mr. Gaffney, who was so passionate about Humane Letters 10. I was being challenged, but I enjoyed the challenge. Finally, in eleventh grade, when we started derivatives in Calculus, I saw that this brought all of math together in one class. It blew my mind. Now I feel like I want to know what I can learn from each class. Even down the road, I might realize that a class was good for me.

What extracurriculars did you participate in? What have those experiences added to your life?

I think I have been in literally every possible extracurricular. I think my favorites have been Action and Trinitones. Action has had an immeasurable impact on my life. I've gotten the opportunity to experience different cultures, to worship God, and also learned what it means to serve people.

What was your favorite book you read in HL?

The Divine Comedy was my favorite epic poem. Compared to the Iliad and the Odyssey, it had more to say to me. It talks about things that affect everybody, including (literally) how to get to heaven. I also enjoyed how every single person we’d ever learned about made a cameo appearance in it. That seemed like an answer to the glorification of Greek heroes – as if to say, you have to be careful to know who are the real heroes. And a random Italian person you meet on the street might be the equal of a mythological hero. For Dante, what’s in a person’s soul is what determines their greatness.

What advice would you give your eighth grade self about how to get the most out of Trinity?

I would encourage myself to take work seriously, take myself seriously, and take friendships seriously. Consider the kind of people that you want to become friends with. One of the goals of friendship is to better each other. You could take some pretty pessimistic views about how people are or aren’t worth pursuing in friendship. Or start to think, if I can’t find my kind of community, I’m not going to get involved. Then you never get started. But I’ve started thinking this year about what kind of community I can create. What can I do for younger students to make the kind of community I would have needed?

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I am heading to Calvin College. I’m hoping to study nursing. I want to be able to do something that serves people and where I can see the effects every day. In my college search, I wanted the closest thing to Trinity I can have. I wanted a school where students wanted to learn and the school would hold true to its values. I hope I’m able to find a community that loves each other and that loves God.

Megan Tung

Megan Tung

What is your first memory of Trinity?

My first memory of Trinity was thinking the entrance test was pretty easy, but being very uncomfortable having to talk to an adult during the interview. At the time, I really did not want to go to Trinity, since I was very attached to my friends at my previous school. When I started at Trinity, I was quite closed off. I made very few close friends and did not really try to incorporate myself with the class.

What are some ways you’ve grown since then?

Maybe because of influences at my old school, I had a negative view of the world and people in it. My moral code hasn’t changed that much over time, but my view of people has. I am more forgiving, and more willing to look at the bright side of things. I’m far more willing to listen to people than I was before. I feel that if I don’t listen well to the other point of view, I don’t have a good basis for my opinion. I also talk much more now in class. In eighth or ninth grade, I didn’t think my thoughts would contribute much to the conversation. Over time, getting comfortable with the people in our class, I became much more willing to talk.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed? Why?

I've enjoyed all of my classes, even the ones that have particularly stressed me out, because I enjoy learning in general. Overall, however, I particularly have liked Humane Letters, since I really enjoy philosophy. Over time, I've enjoyed classes more as I've participated more; often I didn't speak in class in earlier years of high school, but I really value being able to hear other people's opinions on the various texts we read. Reading different texts and breaking them down to understand them is something I do a lot even outside of class.

In 12th grade Humane Letters, the texts often engage with what sort of foundation or commitments a person has to have for living life. Which of Trinity’s commitments have mattered a lot to you?

Above all, I think what resonated with me is the idea of always loving. Trinity has an emphasis on being friends with everyone. There are people in my class with whom I disagree, but we are willing to befriend each other and listen to each other.

What is one class or subject you would not have taken on your own?

I think that the only class that I would not have taken was Latin, and I still found it interesting in the end. Choir and drama have helped me overcome some of my stage fright. In Macbeth last year, there was one scene where I was laughing from nerves in all the rehearsals. But my role in this year’s play (You Can’t Take It With You) is very loud. It can be hard to summon up the attitude of a drunk lady at the end of a long day of classes. I try to act like the complete opposite of myself.

What extracurriculars did you participate in?

I have participated in Trinitones, Student Ambassadors and Yearbook Club. I've honestly liked participating in all of them, even though I became a Student Ambassador by accident! I've gained some amount of confidence talking with other people from them.

What was your favorite book you read in HL?

Either the Iliad or Crime and Punishment. The Iliad really struck me as beautiful. Crime and Punishment, on the other hand, felt almost sticky while reading. I really felt Raskolnikov's emotions, in almost an off-putting way, but I think that made it far more interesting.

What advice would you give to an incoming student (one very much like yourself) about how to get the most out of Trinity?

I think my best advice is to get more sleep than you think you should. Try to find enjoyment in every subject; if you are stressed, let it out, but then figure out some way to relate to the topic that makes it more interesting.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I’ll be going to Purdue. I hope that I’m able to handle the workload. I picked computer science because I liked my experiences with coding so far. I am still figuring out what I’d like to do beyond that.

Joah Slagle

Joah Slagle

What are some early memories of your time at Trinity?

I loved Trinity as a sixth grader. I was addicted to school. Having homework over the weekends was a shock, but I loved all the things I was learning. Latin was my favorite back then: I was fascinated to learn a different language.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed?

I find math thrilling. Even back in kindergarten, I liked seeing the connections between things, and numbers let you see the connections much more clearly. Because math reflects something about reality, the expressions let you see more easily and quickly into how reality works. I also enjoy the process of learning math. We learn new things, but each new thing is connected to a previous step that you already learned. You may not arrive at the answer right away, but, in doing math, I’m comfortable with whatever stage I am at in arriving.

I feel very similarly about the process of discussion in Humane Letters. How about you?

I love reading, but discussing is harder. There are so many connections that it’s hard for me to keep track of them all and know which ones I should pay attention to at a given moment. It’s like taking the connections of math and intensifying it. There have still been times when I see a connection and it really speaks to me. The chapter in The Brothers Karamazov with Grushenka and the onion was like that. The way the reader and Alyosha both had to see Grushenka differently was a big shift. It was moving to me.

What is your favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

Spirit Week is my favorite. We get to see all the goofy and clever things everyone dresses up as. One year, I dressed up as a piano. This year, I dressed up as Hastur the Unspeakable, from a short story by Robert W. Chambers. And one costume I’m proud of was dressing as Bruce Olson, a missionary to the Bari people. The costume itself wasn’t that complicated, but I loved reading about him and was honored to be able to dress up as him.

What are some ways you’ve grown while at Trinity?

In sixth grade, everything I said was an attempt to make people laugh. I’ve learned that being funny should not be your entire schtick. I’ve tried to also be a supportive friend and be kind as much as I could. Trinity has helped me to build friendships because everyone is so supportive. The teachers care that I do the best in all my classes. They don’t worry more about teaching the class than about how students experience the class.

What extracurricular activities have you participated in?

I participated in TACO from seventh grade on. I learned a lot through playing viola and realized that beauty can come in many forms. I also did the fast part in “Journey to the West” correctly in senior year – finally! The happiness I felt was like that of God creating the universe. I also played basketball and tennis, and participated in Trinitones.

What were some of your favorite books in Humane Letters?

I really loved The Old Man and the Sea. In the exciting parts I audibly gasped, cried out, and tensed up. I also really liked Crime and Punishment. This year, I'd been waiting for years to read Dante’s Inferno, and it did not disappoint. I’d always thought of Hell as a pit of fire, just chaos. But Dante’s Hell was like a bureaucracy. It was ordered. And it made you have to think more about what Hell is and what it is for, as a part of God’s justice.

What advice would you give to a younger student about how to get the most out of Trinity?

Push on through, and enjoy what you can. Just do the work and appreciate what you like as much as your mind can handle.

What is next for you?

I'm going to take a gap year, and am considering trade school or college. I enjoy coding and hands-on work. I’ve been thinking about how I could find a job that makes use of those things.

Milo Salomone

Milo Salomone

What is your first memory of Trinity?

I came to the Open House with my family in fifth grade. I remember being very ornery on the drive there: I hated the idea of my parents taking me away from the only school I had ever known. That did not last very long. My parents knew from the moment we wound up in Mr. T's physics lab at Open house that they loved the school. We ended up crashing cars into each other, messing with the sensors, and talking about physics for 45 minutes. I remember feeling that sense of welcome, and almost of intrigue, throughout my sixth grade year.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed? Why?

My top favorites have been Calculus with Mr. Willard and Physics with Mr. Tomassi over the past couple of years. Class is not about just listing out formulas and facts, but creating ways for us to walk through the questions, solving the problems that many great physicists or mathematicians before us worked through. I have gotten to explore beautiful areas of mathematics that I didn't even know existed. Some of my best memories learning math have been talking with Mr. Willard after class about a random question I thought of during class.

What do you think makes Trinity Academy distinctive?

I can say that I have fallen in love with every subject I've taken by being shown the beauty in each of them. I think that this is one of Trinity's biggest strengths. The school really sticks to its ideals of “sense of wonder” and “depth of inquiry” and gives us an opportunity to see the patterns and organizations and nuances in all parts of the world. But the greatest thing that Trinity has done for me has not been to teach me the content of various subjects, but to teach me to dive deeply into everything that I do, and try to find the importance in every little detail.

What have been your biggest challenges at Trinity as a high schooler?

As an eighth grader, I was crushed under the weight of endless homework from Ms. Wegener's Medieval History class… I thought that, in high school, this burden would only get heavier. I hadn’t quite figured out how to get work done. I felt I had to get it done perfectly. I didn’t understand yet why I was doing it. Sometime after ninth grade, when I stopped worrying about getting the homework done and tried to just enjoy it, it got better and I actually did the work faster.

What was your favorite book you read in HL?

There’s a lot I really enjoyed. Each time I’m reading a book, that’s the one I’m most excited about. I really enjoyed how tenth grade Humane Letters combined literature and history. Mr. Gaffney posed a question for the whole course: what is human society, and how can we make it better? All the books could be explored from that angle. Even Pride and Prejudice asks, how do these two people overcome the false views that they have of each other?

What advice would you give to an incoming student (one very much like yourself) about how to get the most out of Trinity?

I was very individualistic for the first half of high school. As a ninth and tenth grader, I hadn’t found my fit yet socially. I identified a lot with my academic abilities and I would show up each day just “to learn.” Now it’s more about coming to school to learn with my peers. I realized learning has always been a group activity. No one person has ever figured out life’s mystery. So my advice would be to figure out how to be part of a learning community.

How have extracurricular activities helped you grow as a high schooler?

I play baseball for Roosevelt High School. Cross country was the only sport I played at Trinity. I loved the feeling of improvement and accomplishment. However, my last year of cross country was the most meaningful one. Coach Todd had been reminding me over the years: “Milo, run with the team.” I wasn’t running that far ahead, but up in my mind, I was up ahead, like I always needed to win. But in my last year, I plateaued at the beginning of the season, and injuries started catching up to me. I realized that just because my own growth stopped, it did not mean that I couldn’t help the team. During the last few weeks of the season, I changed my tactic. We would warm up together, walk to practice together, workout together, talk together. I saw each of them improve massively, even beating me in a race. My goal was to build a family culture on the team.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I have six days to decide where I’m going. Right now, it’s between Colorado School of Mines and the Air Force Academy. I think both would be fun. I’m trying to decide: where will I grow most as a person?

Cassidy Nino

Cassidy Nino

What is your first memory of Trinity?

I distinctly remember not wanting to go to Trinity. I had lived across the street from the school almost my whole life, and I actually didn't know it was even a school until our family heard about it from friends – before that, I thought it was a prison. There was a metal gate, and I always heard the kids screaming and yelling in the courtyard. But we came to the Open House, and the first thing that stuck out to me was how kind and welcoming everyone was. I was on crutches with a broken ankle, and they were so patient, and even helped carry my crutches as I went up and down the stairs. After that visit, I couldn't stop talking about Trinity.

Do you remember the adjustment to middle school?

I remember being surprised there was homework on the first day. In public school, I was the one diving into my work. Being at a school with others who wanted to do that was different. I thought at the time that I might go somewhere else for high school. But as the end of eighth grade was approaching, I realized that I wanted to stay at Trinity. I’d learned so much, and I didn’t know if I would experience the same growth elsewhere. I was afraid I wouldn’t be as motivated at a school that didn’t require as much work for me, especially in areas like seminar, where I have to challenge myself.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed? Why?

I have loved Studio Art and Art History. I’ve continued learning about art history in my own time. I think my favorite piece is one I saw at the National Gallery: “Keelmen Heaving in Coals by Moonlight.” I love the way the light permeates the whole scene.

What do you think makes Trinity Academy distinctive?

I experienced the community at Trinity in such an incredible way this school year while my grandpa was in the hospital. All the Trinity families signed up to bring my family a meal during that difficult time so quickly that the Meal Train was filled up in less than half an hour. We had to add more slots for our church friends who wanted to help!

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

I have loved squads, and how much they form connections between younger and older students. Being a squad leader this year has made me realize how important it is. I remember all my squad leaders! Sophia DiPiazza was my squad leader as a sixth grader, and was really kind. I had Camille Mesquit when I was in 8th grade. She was so consistent and interested in asking how we were doing. It struck me to have a senior want to talk to me.

What extracurriculars did you participate in?

I joined Trinitones in ninth grade. I do tennis and basketball. I started tennis in ninth grade, and now I’m going to be playing in college.

What was your favorite book you read in HL?

The Brothers Karamazov has been a great experience this year. I also loved the tragedies by Sophocles and Aeschuylus. I liked discussing whether it was possible for them to escape their fates. I was interested in how fate in Greek texts is different from the Christian idea of God’s plan. The books this year followed up on different questions people have about providence and how it is that God allows evil.

What advice would you give to an incoming student about how to get the most out of Trinity?

Value the community you have. Try to get the most out of the close community and the Christian environment. One way I got to have fun and contribute this year was by baking for my class. I baked the seniors cupcakes – the flavor of their choice – for their birthdays this year. My favorite might have been pumpkin spice with homemade cream cheese frosting. I’ve also brought things for special occasions, like watching Hamlet. Food is a way that I love people.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I'm going to college in Minnesota at University of Northwestern - St. Paul and will be studying Nursing. One of the reasons I chose this school was because of their strong Christian community and classical education.

Hadassah Mills

Haddasah Mills

What is your first memory of Trinity?

I started Trinity in sixth grade. My first memory is attending the Open House. I barely remember anything at all. Not my tour guide, or any other students or teachers. The only thing I remember is the giant sheep’s heart. All the other kids were crowding around the slime making table, so the table with the giant sheep’s heart was free. That sheep’s heart made me excited for Trinity.

Where did you go to school before coming to Trinity?

I went to a French immersion school up through fifth grade. Coming here was a big transition – I didn’t do any homework there. They didn’t teach us to read, write, or even know the days of the week in English! And here I was doing so much reading. But being thrown into that was really helpful. Trinity has expectations for you that a lot of other schools don’t have.

In eighth grade, I remember you doing very diligent work in Medieval History while, perhaps, also doing a lot of audible grumbling.

I found the best way to handle my frustration was with some controlled amount of groaning. I really got into it during Zoom classes in seventh grade, when no one could hear me. Joking aside, it’s important to me to do good work. I’ve gotten better at doing things I don’t want to do at the moment. Doing really well in ninth grade Biology changed a lot for me. I realized that hard work could pay off, and that I even enjoyed myself. I also enjoyed learning chemistry. Those classes helped me recognize what I really cared about.

Trinity students are all required to take the fine arts, such as drama, studio art, and music. What has your experience been like?

I had an interest in drama because I went to a lot of theater camps when I was little. I love getting up there and being a character. I put a lot into playing Lady Macbeth in junior year because I felt like I had to prove that I could be a lead character and memorize all those lines. This year was a lot more relaxed and fun, probably also because of the play. There were some mistakes which meant I actually had to improvise a few jokes – and they got laughs!

What were your favorite books in Humane Letters?

Crime and Punishment sticks in my mind as a favorite. When I was reading it, I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next. The Brothers Karamazov is another of the books I’ve enjoyed most. Thomas Aquinas was my favorite philosopher. I found it easy to follow his thought process.

Do you have any stories that give a window into the life of a student at Trinity?

I will always remember the time my teacher threw away my test without looking at it. This was toward the end of ninth grade HL with Mrs. Olson. We were given the choice between taking a test about facts and dates we could memorize for ten minutes, or writing an essay reflecting on something like, “why was it important to learn the things we did in this class?” Most of us chose to do the factual test, myself included. When it was over, Mrs. Olson took all those tests and threw them straight in the trash. She kept the essays and said that she didn't care about our ability to cram, she cared about our ability to make sense of what we learned. I thought that was insane, and I was really mad. But looking back, I’m like, “that is awesome!” And it really helped.

How do you think you’ve grown while at Trinity?

Trinity will make you work hard, and I didn’t always see the point. When you’re a kid, you’d eat all the candy in the world, but no parent would let you do that. In middle school, I didn’t like myself very much because I didn’t feel like I had something I could be the best at. In high school, I still thought I had to do well, but I realized it wasn’t a competition. So I’ve gotten a lot less anxious in doing my work and feel like I’ve built the confidence to make sure I do well, but to accept my weak spots, too. I think Trinity helped me get a job where I have the same expectations as the adults working there. I first saw that difference when I applied for a zoology summer internship for high schoolers. The first step of the interview was an escape room. I passed that very easily because the other participants didn’t speak!

What’s next for you?

I’m going to study Wildlife Zoology at OSU.

Vicente Miles

Vicente Miles

What is your first memory of Trinity?

My first memory of Trinity is being introduced to the school as a new sixth grader at orientation. Isaac Shreves introduced me, and was always so nice to me afterwards. He always invited me to eat with him at lunch.

How was the transition to middle school for you?

In fifth grade, I was going to a charter academy part time, but not for any academic classes, because I was also being homeschooled. I was always busy, but not really learning anything hard. The transition to Trinity in sixth grade wasn't too big of a jump, but by eighth grade I felt the difficulty, especially all the reading. The best strategy I found for making the reading load better was writing annotations. I had this new teacher in eighth grade who taught Medieval History and demanded I annotate... it eventually paid off.

What have been your favorite books in Humane Letters?

I liked reading all the philosophy. Rousseau was the first: I love the idea of starting from the beginning to try to understand the human psyche. I was excited for Plato, but then the dialogues turned out to be more like stories. Finally, we started reading Aristotle. When he talked about virtue as the mean between vices, I thought, this really is how the world works. I was also interested in how he influenced later writers like Augustine and Thomas Aquinas. I was amazed that you could take something that was totally unreligious, just focused on what the universe is and how it works, and then set it next to how the Bible says the world works, and see that they match up pretty well in describing human life.

What do you think makes Trinity distinct?

The relationships we have in the Trinity community have helped me a lot. I can talk to Mr. T. about anything. My mom was diagnosed with cancer at the end of my sixth grade year, and it was a big blessing to us to have the Trinity community reaching out to help us. Seeing other people’s willingness to be there for someone inspired me as a young student and helped me know what I wanted to be like. I’ve always looked up to the older students at Trinity. That's why I really love that part of The Brothers Karamazov where the boy looks up to Alyosha for a model of how to be.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

I love Spring Field Day. The events you do with your squad really bring you together as a community. I find it easy to relate to younger students, but I have to be the grown up sometimes. I like to be the fun person, who you know is going to help you have a good time, but if I see my squad mates trash talking our opponent, I step in or try to talk to them about it. That's part of what I like about getting to be involved.

What is one class or subject you would not have taken on your own?

Studio Art. The first day of seventh grade, I was not looking forward to it. My handwriting is illegible and I did not believe I could do it. But I drew a Fennic fox, and the end result made me really proud. Our final piece from eleventh grade, the charcoal portrait of Marcos, is the thing I'm most proud of that I've done at Trinity. We have a room at our house: one wall is photos of people who have made a difference in our lives -- including some authors from the Trinity curriculum -- and on the other wall is all the art me and my brothers have made at Trinity. My portrait of Marcos is right next to the door.

What extracurriculars did you participate in? What have those experiences added to your life?

The three main extracurriculars I participated in were cross country, basketball, and tennis. In basketball, learning to rely on others and to be part of a team was a big step for me. I always felt like I had to carry the team when I was younger -- even when I was not the best person on the team, I felt that way. It led to a lot of ball hogging. This explains why the middle school team lost a lot. But starting in high school, I was playing with older guys. I learned that you have to trust other people to play their part on the team. Instead of practicing by myself, now I like to invite people over to the gym at Hinson so we can play, talk, and build friendship. We play pick-up games every Saturday morning, and the whole starting five will come.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I'm going to start community college and work this year. Then I hope to transfer to Corban University where I can finish my nursing program. I've always been interested in the medical field. Two years ago, I took care of a man with Alzheimer's at a nursing home, and it was enjoyable to get to know someone in that way. It was cool to see how the staff there helped him and interacted with the other people who needed help there.

Abigail le Roux

Abi le Roux

What is an early memory of Trinity?

At lunch one day in eighth grade, the whole class got into a debate about the Bible – Catholics on one side, Protestants on the other. Everyone started whipping out their Bibles to cite different passages to each other… a few of which were relevant! We were getting a sense for how to present ideas and discuss things with each other, and were excited to try it out.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed?

I've loved every science class. My favorite memories are the labs from biology and physics. In seventh grade, Mr. Tomassi had the principle that we should not assume any of our pre-conceived knowledge about the world. He wanted us to try to discover why it is the way it is by our own means. The idea that we needed to come to conclusions purely based on our own observations was completely new to me, and it put a lot of life into the class. In recent years I’ve also thought about how this relates to other subjects. We’ve had lots of Humane Letters discussions about how to pursue the truth. In some texts, you are supposed to start from scratch. That means you would need lots of perspectives to correct the ways you might go wrong, but it’s hopeful because you can always strengthen and improve your thinking.

You are an accomplished amateur artist. In fact, I should call you a professional, because I know you used to take commissions to draw portraits of people’s pets. How have Art Studio classes helped you?

Starting watercolors in eighth grade, we all had to paint the same barn. That was not very exciting to me. So when we were all supposed to do the steps together, I didn’t listen. I thought, I’m an art person, I can figure this out. It did not turn out to be a very good barn. I realized that I needed to learn specific skills from Mrs. Mbona to even know the basics of a new technique. Fast forward to junior year, when we started our large charcoal portraits. I drew my dad and his brothers. By then, I’d learned, maybe I’m not so great at everything. I was more open to learning the basics of the technique, and ended up very proud of how the final product turned out.

What has been a challenge for you as a high schooler?

I’ve struggled in math, and I’ve often assumed that nothing would make me like it. I wouldn’t even really try. It often took Mrs. Mysliwiec or Mr. Willard coming up to me and encouraging me to try again for me to get the motivation to start again. Even when I was being stubbornly against a subject, they never counted me as a lost cause, and were always reaching out to assist me. I’m still working on it, but I’ve learned to admit when I need help.

What extracurriculars did you participate in?

The first year of high school, I decided to do every single extracurricular offered. I did cross country, basketball, tennis, TACO, Trinitones, Action... My plan was to do everything, decide what I enjoyed and what I didn't, and then dock a few extracurriculars for the rest of high school as the work load got larger. Turns out I really got something out of all of the extracurriculars, and it was very difficult for me to cut any of them. So after missing out on my sophomore year basketball season, I decided to go back and keep doing everything I could! In basketball, I wanted to be good at it, but it didn’t come easily. I was able to see some strengths and weaknesses in myself, and had to get to a point where I stopped comparing myself to people and tried to take joy in the things I could do well. I don’t know if I would have that attitude if not for doing sports.

What was your favorite book you read in HL?

The Brothers Karamazov. We’re not done with it, but it’s so fun to have another Dostoyevsky novel to compare with Crime and Punishment. I love the similarities and differences between the three brothers.

What advice would you give to an incoming student (one very much like yourself) about how to get the most out of Trinity?

Have a happy medium. Try to see what's worthwhile and good in everything, even if you're not having the best time of something. There are a lot of amazing opportunities you will have in high school, and it’s not cool to be too cool or bored or nonchalant. Enjoy the time you have here, the classes you take, and the people you get to be with.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I'm going to France this summer to test out my language skills and learn about ministry by doing a volunteer program at Hautecombe Abbey. I also hope to travel a little bit and see more of France! After that, I'd like to study to be a physical therapist.

Grace Kidd

Grace Kidd

What is your first memory of Trinity?

I started in eighth grade. My family heard about Trinity while looking for good high school options with a Christian identity. We had been in public school prior to that. Coming to Trinity was definitely a change. Trinity started to grow on me as I felt that teachers and students cared about each other, and cared about me.

What is one way you have grown in your years at Trinity?

I wanted to study hard, even at my old school. Having good grades was the main drive. I still have moments where I get caught up in a kind of copy-and-paste method of learning, and I do still get stressed. But I’ve learned to let go of the belief that my grades define who I am.

Even in eighth grade Medieval History, I was impressed by your interest in people and how they think. Have you continued to enjoy classes that explore the human experience?

Yes; I really enjoy Humane Letters, World Issues, and Drama. In HL I’ve reflected on people’s actions (especially in literature) and ideas (in philosophical and theological texts). World Issues looks at what it means for humans to flourish in real life, modern times, and Drama asks, what are the possibilities for what a given character might do?

What do you think makes Trinity Academy distinctive?

Trinity Academy intentionally sets up an environment where you cannot judge anything based on your first impressions. This gives you the room to delve deeper into getting to know something—a class, a person, even a book—before you judge whether it is worth your time. This helped me learn to have an open mind toward both academics and people.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

I really enjoy Spirit Week because of the chance to dress up in wacky costumes. My own favorite costume might be the birthday dinner table for Inanimate Objects day. I built a tabletop out of cardboard, added a festive tablecloth, food, dishes, and silverware. My head went through the middle. I wore a party hat and blew a party horn, too.

What have been your biggest challenges at Trinity as a high schooler? Were they what you expected they would be when you were a middle schooler?

I think I struggled most with trying to build community, especially in first coming to Trinity. I’ve built up my social skills. Over time, I’ve learned that it takes a lot of listening and awareness of others to connect with people. Sometimes I’ve also learned how to explain some things so people can better understand me. I use the word “stimming,” which means I am stuck in my head and not easily able to pay attention to what’s in front of me. I remember describing that to friends.

You love the performing arts. What musical or dramatic activities did you participate in?

I have participated in Trinitones, Chamber Choir, piano, and Christian Youth Theater. I started participating in Christian Youth Theater in middle school. I’ve been in four or five shows. I love singing and acting, though dancing is a little more difficult. Trinity’s drama program has also given me the chance to act. As one of the witches in Macbeth, I remember trying to understand where the character was coming from. It was hard to relate to a character who was so cruel!

What was your favorite book you read in HL?

The Brothers Karamazov is one of my favorites for the characters' internal struggles and the themes of brotherhood, God and man, and morality. Macbeth and Hamlet were fun, especially because we read them aloud in parts. The Divine Comedy is another favorite. Dante's style is like the way I think: in long analogies that are hard to follow but hopefully worth it!

What advice would you give to an incoming student about how to get the most out of Trinity?

Study smarter, not harder, by prioritizing what's important. Don't overwork yourself either because your teachers care about you! Be open to teachers’ morning prayer reflections. Some of them have really spoken to me. Reach out to people, even if they aren’t in your grade. I have appreciated the influence of older students during my time at Trinity. Ani Brady and Ellanie Hellweg stand out as people who were so kind to me. They chose to be joyful around school and it made a big difference.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I'm planning on going to George Fox. I hope that it's similar to Trinity, in that I learn even more and build new friendships that will last me the rest of my life.

Benji Kabele

Benji Kabele

What is your first memory of Trinity?

My first memory of Trinity was visiting a church basement as a three-year-old, where my twin brothers Peter and Stephen were in the first class at Trinity. I was also a greeter for Trinity Open Houses and helped at info nights starting in fourth grade. That said, I was still nervous when I came for my shadow day. I remember dropping my psalm book not once, but twice, during morning prayer, and thinking the world must be over. When Mr. Gaffney asked me to share one really unique fact about myself with the sixth grade class, I was dumb-struck. I couldn't think of one thing that was specific to me.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed? Why?

Math was a favorite in my first years of high school. I loved the process of solving more and more complex problems and proving theorems – what I really loved was trusting the tools I had to come to a completely correct answer. Even this became more complex. In a way, our Calculus classes are more like Humane Letters. Sometimes, in the learning process, we were doing things wrong, but that was part of coming to understand.

What do you think makes Trinity Academy distinctive?

One answer is the teachers. Especially in middle school, we had a lot of fun. I think of Mrs. Mertz allowing us to to climb through a classroom window to get a more vivid image of The Princess and the Goblin, or Mrs. Mysliwiec assigning each of us a role to reenact a cell-cycle out in the courtyard, or, of course, Monk Day in Medieval History, in which I was elected abbot to rule over my classmates for a day… But I’ll say I love the cramped-ness of Trinity Academy. Making almost full-body contact standing back-to-front in a line up the stairs after guys’ morning prayer, pushing our way through, we are left with no choice but to say “mornin’.” Although Trinity might not be the most spacious place currently, it forces students to acknowledge each other and reach out to others outside of their own grade.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

My favorite Trinity tradition would have to be Spirit Week. Bringing in costumes to school makes the entire week of learning exciting, especially when you are dressed up as the Scooby-Doo Mystery Gang.

What is one way you’ve grown while at Trinity?

One challenge was that my closest friends were all a little older than me, so, by my ninth or tenth grade year, they all went to college, and I had to start making friends in my own class. This year, especially, has been a huge change, and I’ve grown in real friendship with my classmates. We’re able to have serious conversations and relate to each other on a deeper level. Taking more of an interest in each other’s lives has changed how enjoyable the learning experience is during class, too.

Who have you looked up to at Trinity, and what did you pick up from them?

In middle school, every time Jay Bowler passed me going to class, he would shout, “Benji!” or “Boodle!” I was embarrassed, but liked it at the same time. Most of the time, younger people won’t show it when an older student knows their name or talks to them. But I think it’s important to them. I’ve tried to carry that on in the way I treat younger students.

What was your favorite book you read in HL?

One of my favorite HL books is Augustine’s Confessions. I was really struck by Augustine’s conflict of soul, by his desire for God and for sinful things at the same time. I love this story because I think it is important to remember that we need to ask for God’s help in our lives constantly, in order to even attempt to be holy people.

What advice would you give to a younger student about how to get the most out of Trinity?

I think you have to get comfortable with not having the answer at first. In middle school, I always imagined that I had to get the right answer or have a certain level of competence that I felt I didn’t have. I figured I would stay silent until somebody else said the right answer. But, with time, I found it was okay to be wrong. It took a while to sink in. Going into high school, I started asking more questions. In ninth grade HL, we were all talking about things we didn’t know about. Once we got into more difficult topics where it really wasn’t obvious to everyone what the answer would be, I became more comfortable not knowing, and was able to ask more questions.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I will be at Carroll College in Montana, studying nursing. I’m excited to see how the things I’ve learned at Trinity go into practice. I want to grow stronger in my faith and convictions. And rather than sitting on my phone at lunch at college, I want to initiate conversations.

Patrick Igloria

Patrick igloria

What is your first memory of Trinity?

My first experience I had with Trinity was actually the junior play in 2018. My next-door neighbor Gladys was playing Viola in Twelfth Night. I remember Dr. Clark meeting my family when we came in. I recognized her from my church, but I didn't know exactly who she was. I remember that she was very friendly and welcoming.

Is there a story that sheds some light on your Trinity experience?

My tenth grade Humane Letters oral exam was one of the greatest events of my life thus far! I really connected with the HL 10 course as a whole. The questions it posed about modern society went with questions I already had. I am religious and was really concerned about the state of the world. These past years have felt like a very political time for teenagers. I thought, what can the Church do in the world that we have? To what extent would I wish things were back where they were? How much progress do I think has actually been good? In the oral exam, it felt very freeing to take everything I’d been thinking about the whole year, everything I wanted to wrestle with, and try to work through it all.

Are there classes at Trinity that have not come as easily for you?

I don’t have a natural talent for art. At a young age, I decided to never draw so that no one would find out I couldn’t do it. So embarking on art in middle school was a challenge. The key was not to think about “being an artist.” I learned to do a grid square at a time, very methodical. Watercolor was the most difficult thing I ever did at Trinity. It’s so antithetical to how I want everything to go. It’s uncontrolled, and the water goes wherever it goes. Mrs. Mbona made me practice over and over on scrap pieces of paper, until I finally gained a feel for it and learned to just go for it. In the end, it’s really valuable to me to have learned it. It’s like reading Einstein right now in Physics – It’s awesome to feel able to grasp something like the theory of relativity because we’ve built up our understanding in class to the point where we’re able to be conversant. Not that we’ve reached mastery of everything we’ve learned at Trinity, but I’ve had an experience of my own competence.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

I love taking dance lessons together. You get to interact with members of the high school that you otherwise wouldn't as often. They can start out a little awkward, but I think that nicely transitions into a bonding experience unlike any other. You learn to just have fun and not take yourself too seriously.

What extracurriculars did you participate in? What have those experiences added to your life?

I’ve been in Taco, Trinitones, and Chamber Choir. Making music with people is an experience like no other. There's no real competition (beyond some light section versus section rivalries). It's all about collaboration and coming together to create something larger than all of your individual talents. I love the way you connect with other people in a musical group setting. It's totally nonverbal. You learn to listen to each other and feel each other's beat and energy. When it is really great, you don't say anything, you can't even look at each other really, especially reading orchestra music, but you literally feel your sound mixing together and you just know that you are creating something big and glorious. Also, the last few years I’ve been working at a performing arts dance camp. I choreograph dances for third graders set to Taylor Swift songs.

What was your favorite book from Humane Letters?

The Brothers Karamazov is becoming a strong contender, but for now I think I have to stick with Crime and Punishment. I remember being shocked at how relatable Raskolnikov was in his experience of guilt and his desire to be something extraordinary. With Dostoevsky, you feel the importance of what he is saying, and you can almost tell what he is getting at, but he just doesn't say it outright. He leaves you to put the last pieces together.

What has been your experience of the Christian character of Trinity’s academics?

At Trinity, you have to encounter Scripture directly, and ask, what exactly does this say? You have to think about what the words are for a second, and not just what you’ve been told they mean. As a Catholic, I believe all the things that I was raised to to believe, but now they are mine in a different way. Trinity helped me have conviction.

What advice would you give to an incoming student (one very much like yourself) about how to get the most out of Trinity?

I would say to remember that teachers at Trinity really want you to have an encounter with subjects that they find really meaningful. I spent a good part of my schooling feeling like I had to earn my teachers’ approval—like they would be disappointed in me if I wasn't acing every test and spending hours and hours getting through every homework assignment. I ended up doing a whole lot of worrying and stressing about the way I was perceived, when, in reality, my teachers wanted to see my interest, not my overwhelming productivity.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I will be going to Hope College in Holland, Michigan in the fall. I'm very fortunate to have been accepted into a program they have called Hope Forward. The members of the program are put into a cohort, and you do retreats and seminars and service work and other things like that. So I am very excited to meet my fellow cohort members. I really hope that I will be able to have conversations with people about what they are interested in learning and what issues are important to them.

Patrick Godfrey

Patrick Godfrey

What is your first memory of Trinity?

My first memory of Trinity was my shadow day as an incoming seventh grader. I specifically remember standing at morning prayer, almost awestruck, watching as every boy in the school joined to say the Lord's Prayer. It was a bizarre moment for me, because it was almost my first glimpse into a school that centered around community through God. And seeing everyone gathered there, I didn't feel like I was at a school full of separate grades and classes, but rather as one, huge, unified organism.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed?

I enjoyed MATLAB and studio art the most, because they both give me the ability to be independent in what I choose to do, and how to approach it. Another reason I loved these classes was how I could clearly see my improvements happening in real time, with the iterative nature of programming allowing me to watch my code develop over several attempts, and art allowing me to see my piece look more and more like an accurate rendering of my reference.

What do you think makes Trinity Academy distinctive?

The size of the school definitely sets it apart from many others. With such a small number of students, you really get much better relationships with fellow students across grades. You really do know everyone at the school. The smaller class sizes also mean that no matter how much I am struggling with a topic, the teachers can always have time to help clarify any questions I might have.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition? Why do you like it?

Spirit Week is definitely my favorite Trinity tradition. It really shows how creative a lot of our community at Trinity is, and it also gives me a glimpse into the interests of other people that I may not have known about.

What is one class or subject you would not have taken on your own initiative? What was that experience like?

I would not have taken choir if I was at another school. I have never really thought of myself as a good singer, but taking choir I learned that I can improve on things that I either don't have an affinity for or do not enjoy.

What have your extracurricular experiences added to your life?

I actually started cross country because I knew that I hated running, but I wanted to give it a good effort before I made a complete judgement on the sport. While my personal opinion was not swayed, I could find some respite in the fact that suffering with my team allowed me to feel a different sort of community in bonding over a difficult experience. I have done tennis for many years, and loved that sport for how technical it is. Each mechanical movement has so many small pieces to be perfected and adapted that gives an easy breakdown of how to improve your gameplay.

What was your favorite book in Humane Letters?

My favorite was The Brothers Karamazov. It does an excellent job of exploring human nature and shows how to grow even out of bad situations – not to mention, it is simply a fun book to read.

What advice would you give to an incoming student (one very much like yourself) about how to get the most out of Trinity?

The Trinity community is always ready to support you no matter what. Whether you need help studying flash cards at lunch or need extra math help after school, Trinity has created a net of people always willing and ready to help, so use any opportunity for support you can.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I am taking a gap year, working a job, doing independent study, and volunteering. I will be exploring possible career paths in tech related fields like cybersecurity, but mostly trying to find a direction before I enter college.

Eve Garland

Eve Garland

What is your first memory of Trinity?

One early memory from 6th grade took place on Fall Field Day at Tree-to-Tree, which also happened to be my birthday. My squad leader surprised me with a handmade card and a pint of ice cream, and our squad serenaded me, singing “Happy Birthday.” I remember my mom was there and was so struck that an older student who barely knew me would be so kind to me.

What do you think makes Trinity Academy distinctive?

Trinity’s Christian culture, especially how it allows for intellectual examination of Christian ideas, seems unique to me. Scripture class instilled in me a commitment to reading the Bible as it is – knowing that there are many tools for understanding the ancient languages or historical context, I am cautious to avoid cherry-picking, and I want to make sure to read the text as a whole. Part of it is also knowing people from different denominations, which naturally brings up questions about our faith. Sometimes it’s been challenging to a belief I’ve held, and I’ve had lots of conversations that have helped me understand things better personally or academically. I think that, if something is the truth, it will withstand a challenge.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

One thing I love about Trinity is how there is always singing. I love singing on Fridays at morning prayer. It’s so cool that we can all read music and sing together. There is always some high school girl singing in the upper commons, and I love the moments where everyone will join in, singing parts, with a song we all know from choir, like “Shenandoah.”

What have been your biggest challenges at Trinity as a high schooler?

In middle school, I was very quiet. Relationally, I kept a very close but small circle of friends. In high school, I’ve become so much more comfortable with people and taken a lot of initiative in planning things for our class. Academically, I’ve tended to be a perfectionist. My work is painstaking, but it’s not a slog, because it’s all interesting to me. And I’ve gotten better at stopping at a reasonable time in order to do other things!

At Trinity, you all work hard and take high level subjects as part of a set core curriculum. What has that been like?

At Trinity I’ve had lots of classes that I might have thought wouldn’t fit my personality type. I trust my teachers enough to think there must be value in what they’re asking, and I’ve become okay being “bad” in classes where it’s not naturally appealing. It’s a good thing to take personal responsibility for it, and I grow in appreciation for classmates who excel in those areas.

What was your favorite book you read in HL?

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. I liked how he talked about virtue as habit. It is very freeing and comforting to think you can grow in different virtues by practicing them, and it seems true to my experience. Following it with Augustine’s Confessions was helpful because he focuses on how desires drive your actions. And since Aristotle thinks of your actions determining the sort of person you are, it led me to think you should be very aware of what you desire, even subconsciously, because that will play out in what you become.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I’m going to Wheaton to study Biblical and Theological Studies. I want to do minors in Spanish and social work. They have an honors program called Aequitas, and I’m in the Urban Leadership cohort. Trinity has given me a pretty complex and comprehensive philosophical view of the human person. I'm hoping that at Wheaton I'll learn how to put that into action practically and holistically. I want to keep the moral, intellectual, and spiritual wellbeing of individuals in mind when designing social service programs. I would like to do some kind of nonprofit work and come back to Portland to help it flourish!

Ada Gene Folz

Ada Gene Folz

What is your first memory of Trinity?

My first memory is from my shadow day in fifth grade. I was separated from my initial shadow buddy and got lost. Luckily, a different sixth grader took me under her wing and helped me get where I needed to go! Before Trinity, I went to a public school. Coming in sixth grade, I was really impressed by how well behaved my classmates were! We were here to learn.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed? Why?

I loved Medieval History in eighth grade. It was the first time we had seminars as middle schoolers, which turned out to be great preparation. I had so much fun learning about the three field system. I also really liked ninth grade Humane Letters. To help us practice talking to each other, Mrs. Olson would leave the room and watch us from outside the door! It felt like we were coming to new revelations about each book, and it was satisfying to come out understanding more than when I entered the room.

What do you think makes Trinity Academy distinctive?

I think our level of interconnectedness is rare. The level of learning is also pretty remarkable. The faculty draw us up to higher levels than I would have probably chosen for myself. I can’t run away from the things that sound difficult, which is actually really nice. I have so many opportunities to grow and the support I need to grow. Mr. Willard will come down to study hall before he leaves, even on the days he isn’t assigned to study hall. He’ll sometimes sit next to me while I figure out a problem. I’ve had to learn how to ask for help. When I’m struggling, it can be tempting just to ignore it or to do just the amount that I can do, even when I know there’s more to do. I’ll work myself up to asking just one question.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

I think my favorite is Lernvergnügenstag. It’s really about all the hope and anticipation in waiting for the surprise! I love seeing teachers showing their love and appreciation for the world outside of the classroom. Mrs. Hawk’s boxing class this year was really fun!

What extracurriculars did you participate in? What have those experiences added to your life?

I ran cross country and played tennis. Playing sports has helped me build discipline in managing my time. I also love how much community and conversation there is, especially in cross country. I’ve recently been running by myself to get in shape for the Coast Guard, and it’s made it clear to me how much I love the teamwork of cross country. In tennis, I’ve gotten to the point where I can help coach younger students and get to share in their success in a match. I’m also very involved in scouting. My scouting organization is called the Outdoor Service Guides, which is a co-ed organization for everyone ages 5 to 99! In scouting, I started canoeing when I was 11. In the summers, I teach canoeing to teens and adults at scout camp.

What was your favorite book you read in Humane Letters?

It was eighth grade, but I really loved The Hiding Place. It was moving to see how God was present to Corrie ten Boom and her sister even in the darkest circumstances.

How has Trinity’s Christian community shaped your faith?

Trinity gave me so many great examples of people living out their faith. Dr. Gusich sticks in my mind as a teacher who gave us a window into her life because of times when she would talk about philosophy making a difference in daily experiences. But all the teachers are examples to me of mature Christians. And the academic side also made a difference. Before Scripture, I wasn’t being pushed to read the Bible with the kind of close attention it took to discuss it in class.

What advice would you give to an incoming student (one very much like yourself) about how to get the most out of Trinity?

Connect with everybody: teachers, classmates, students in different grades. They are all interesting and worth the time to get to know. If I could talk to my younger self, I might say: this is the best high school I could’ve ever landed in. The values and things I care about were all formed by Trinity. I know how hard I can work because teachers expect us to work hard. I know how to talk to people and listen actively because we’re asked to do that every day for two hours. I deeply appreciate that about Trinity.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I am heading to the US Coast Guard Academy in June. I admire their values of honor, respect, and hard work. I’ll major in civil engineering and gain more leadership skills. I hope to find a strong faith community there. I’ll also get to be on the water, which I’ve found a love for through scouting.

Hannah Fabel

Hannah Fabel

What is your first memory of Trinity?

I came as a ninth grader. I had been homeschooled my whole life. I needed to come to school for the social component. Between my mom and our homeschool co-op, I had a great education, but I was not well suited to learn on my own! It wasn’t a hard transition. I immediately hit it off with the other new ninth grader. Homework was the one thing I didn’t love. I had to work through my tendency to think of coursework as something to get through as efficiently as possible, especially in classes I didn’t already enjoy.

What do you think makes Trinity Academy unique?

The students like it here and love working. We might complain sometimes, but, overall, we aren’t just trying to “get through it.” We talk about what we learned in school when we’re outside of school. We don’t just ignore what we learned in class in our day to day life.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed? Why?

Humane Letters, because I gravitate toward literature and history. When I was younger, I'd spend hours in the basement reading Usborne history books just for fun. Any class became more enjoyable when I came to see teachers as people who care about us and love what they teach. Even when a teacher – say, in Humane Letters – gets mad at us, I’ve learned it’s because they care so much about our discussion and about the books. There isn’t an us-versus-them dynamic between teachers and students.

You’re absolutely right that it’s because I’m mad about the books. Which ones have been your favorites?

I’ve found the philosophy the most interesting over the last two years. Montaigne was my favorite from this year. He has a great sense of humor. Paradise Lost was also a top favorite. It was fun to see Satan presented as a Greek war hero. You had to think about why he was so tragic and likeable, despite being the villain.

What is one way you’ve grown at Trinity?

I’ve found it valuable to build friendships with people who are different from me. Here, we don’t just avoid people with different viewpoints; we see each other every day in the hallways. We can still be paired together in the classroom and enjoy each other’s company.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

I love that Lernvergnügenstag is a surprise. My first year, I had no idea what was happening! It’s fun to see teachers taking a break from the daily routine and reviving our more basic interest in the world. Maybe the purpose of Lernvergnügenstag is to remind us that there’s more than the structure of class: we remember we enjoy learning for itself.

What is one class or subject you would not have taken on your own?

MATLAB or Advanced Topics in math. Without a natural interest, I have to cultivate the right kind of attention. During Spring Break, I spent over eight hours on the Markov model I had to make for Calculus. I had to problem solve for a long time until I finally saw the way the coding language translated the board game I was modeling.

What extracurriculars did you participate in? What have those experiences added to your life?

I’ve done tennis for three years and basketball for all of high school. I love basketball and my teammates. It’s helped create friendships for me in all grade levels. It’s a different kind of teamwork than in class; on the court, if someone makes a mistake, it really can wreck the game. You have to learn how to mesh well as a team, how to fix any conflicts, and how to move on for the sake of the goal.

What advice would you give to an incoming student (one very much like yourself) about how to get the most out of Trinity?

Don’t sacrifice your sleep schedule. I did at first, but then I learned that it had bigger costs elsewhere in my ability to learn at school. If I haven’t finished my work at ten, I go to bed, and then just wake up earlier to start my day.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I’m studying nursing at California Baptist in Riverside, California. My short term goal is nursing, maybe Labor & Delivery. Long term, I want to be a malpractice lawyer. I’ve been reading books about nurses and their work experiences as a kind of spiritual endeavor. They say the hospital can be a place where people feel close to God. I want to be a positive presence there.

Sean Boughton

Sean Boughton

What is an early memory of Trinity?

I started as a sixth grader. I remember coming to the Open House and having Alan Hickerson as a tour guide. I remember speaking with the student ambassadors and being extremely nervous, not knowing what to say to any of them.

What classes have you particularly enjoyed? Why?

Trinity’s music program has been a great experience for me, starting even from sixth grade, when we did a project that led me to start making music in my free time. Music composition in ninth and tenth grade was a big jump forward. Up to that point, I had hunted and pecked, just listening for what sounded good. I made mostly EDM. In taking music theory, I learned why things sounded good together. I had to shift to a classical lens, which taught me the basics of composing and arranging things for an orchestra. I learned what the reality was behind what I enjoyed.

What do you think makes Trinity Academy distinctive?

One thing is the way friendships can grow between older and younger students. Some older students made a big effort to get out there and get to know me and my classmates. That made a big difference for me. I have appreciated going to some of them for advice and it was good to have people to take me under their wing.

Do you have a favorite Trinity Academy tradition?

Lernvergnügenstag lets us come together from different grades and have classes together. It’s fun to have class with a specific set of people who chose to be there. This year, Dr. Gusich did a session on Kant, and there were a number of sixth grade boys along for the ride.

What have been your biggest challenges at Trinity as a high schooler?

One has been staying on top of everything. As I have grown older, the number of things I am doing has significantly increased. This is good, but it's still difficult. It’s been important for me to ask for help. A shift happened when I started to pay attention to my spiritual growth. I realized that my calling for now was to be a student. I had to do what I could to understand everything the best I could. It was still sometimes difficult to sit down and do my homework every night, but it was easier. Once I was paying attention in that way, I was able to engage more deeply with what I was learning in class and feel more confidence and enjoyment.

What extracurriculars did you participate in? What have those experiences added to your life?

I participated in basketball, summer tennis, Trinitones, Worship Club, and Action. Getting to take on some leadership roles in Worship Club and Action have formed me most: I learned how to take initiative, serve, follow, and lead.

What was your favorite book you read in HL?

I’m torn between Crime and Punishment, the Confessions, Thomas Aquinas, and The Brothers Karamazov. Raskolnikov was so relatable. I had a similar experience reading Augustine: I got to see inside his mind and understand his internal struggle.

What advice would you give to a younger student about how to get the most out of Trinity?

I would tell them to give more fully of themselves. Participate in as much as possible; lean into everything. This time is a great chance to learn to do hard work and learn to prioritize what needs to come first. Finally: don’t be on the internet. Screens normalize an indirect mode of contact that gets in the way of really knowing who people are.

What’s next for you? What do you hope it will be like?

I will be pursuing a Marketing degree at Portland State for my freshman year. I hope to develop meaningful friendships and take leadership opportunities.