On May 9th, Hamlin welcomed back six members of the class of 2013. These intelligent young women reflected on their Hamlin education in front of an audience of faculty members, staff and trustees. Hamlin’s Head of School, Wanda Holland Greene, led a vibrant and insightful discussion, asking the students about their time at Hamlin related to: feminism, their core values, their academic preparation, and their passions. Below are some of their thoughts.

Feminism:

-I find myself still thinking about lessons learned from 4th grade. My beliefs are secure, I’m not scared to express what I believe.

-Hamlin taught me to cultivate a viewpoint and stand with it. I also know that I have a community of women to fall back on.

-When I think about why I’m a feminist, I think about Hamlin. Today I feel more comfortable bringing up feminism in a classroom discussion.

-Hamlin taught me how to lean in to discomfort and gave me the tools to later comprehend intersectional feminism; the understanding that there are overlapping systems of discrimination in our society.

Core Values:

-Hamlin girls know how to talk about uncomfortable things, my time at Hamlin taught me how to use my voice.

-Hamlin taught me how to deal with failure, and work through setbacks, this made me stronger in high school.

-You can tell who the Hamlin girls are, they are first to raise their hands.

-There is such a culture of hard work at Hamlin. To this day, I’m thankful to Hamlin for teaching me the value of hard work.

Academic Preparation:

-I was super prepared for high school English, especially with grammar.

–Biology and science in general was easy in high school.

-I was well prepared for high school, especially in terms of public speaking, organizational skills, and math.

-I was way ahead of the other 9th graders in my science and math classes.

Passions:

-I first took dance at Hamlin, then went on to take it all four years in high school.

-I learned about social activism at Hamlin in my social studies classes, I continued to learn all I could about activism in high school.

-Art and Social Justice both started for me at Hamlin, I continue to explore and share my love of photography as it relates to making the world a better place.

-The digital media elective I took at Hamlin showed me that technology can be a way to create art. I’m still passionate about using technology to better communicate.

Thank you to the alumnae who joined us:

Nicole Aquino: The Bay School, attending Pitzer College next year

Chloe David: Lick-Wilmerding High School, attending Northeastern University next year

Madison Dempster: San Domenico School, attending St. Lawrence University next year

Kyoko Hirose: The Branson School, attending Columbia University next year

Linda Huang: University High School, attending Pitzer College next year

Caroline Parkinson: St. Ignatius College Preparatory, attending Boston College next year