At the end of last school year, I had the opportunity to interview five Tatler graduates: Aaron Z. ’23, Hallie X. ’23, Stellan M. ’23, Yoon L. ’23, and Zora S. ’23. For incoming freshmen (or any members of the Lakeside community), here is their shared advice and lessons from four years of high school to share with the Lakeside community, especially incoming freshmen. 

How do you find and cultivate your passions?

There’s this universal question: how can I find my passion? But if we have to look so hard to find it, is it really a passion? 

For Aaron, he never realized his passion for poetry until he picked up a thick anthology of British poetry from the library. Aaron believes that, “Most people have already encountered their passion, but maybe judged it as not worthy or just passed it off. I think being more aware of your surroundings and more reflective on what you enjoy doing could help people realize that their passion was right in front of their noses all along.” He initially picked up the book as a joke, only to fall in love with it.

Aaron’s love for poetry and arts led him to deliver amazing work on IMAGO. He explained how a lot of his friends were creating amazing artwork outside of school, especially over the pandemic, but it wasn’t talked about or celebrated much. So, he thought of creating a little art magazine. He later learned that there already existed an art magazine, IMAGO, but it was only published once a year digitally. He really wanted to get IMAGO back on its feet again to showcase and promote student art. In the past, IMAGO printed copies and placed them in everyone’s mailbox, and it was a nice way to send them off into summer with a little memory. Aaron said, “The senior editors graciously let me join and pursue what I wanted. I brought IMAGO under Tatler and pulled together a little team from Tatler. I also reached out to a lot of people and encouraged them to submit work and ideas for IMAGO. And now, I believe IMAGO has played a special role in showcasing student-led initiatives to promote student art.”

How do I find time to pursue my passion?

Hallie mentioned we only get busier, so if you want to pursue something, do it now. Hallie looks back to her junior year when she was extremely busy with school, theater, Tatler, and writing. She says, “My advice would be to ask yourself: do you really want to participate in the activity? If the answer is yes, do it, and make the time. And in the end, it’s a fulfilling kind of tiredness.” 

 

What are a few great opportunities Lakeside offers to explore?

Stellan found his passions through various opportunities offered by Lakeside. He talked about Lakeside’s GSL trips, where he had the opportunity to go to Puerto Rico and French Polynesia.

It’s a misconception that you need to have everything figured out. I think when you get too settled in your group or your interests, it makes things a little too narrow. For Stellan, those trips opened him up to a global mindset and inspired him to continue studying Spanish through college. He’s now hoping to do a semester abroad in a Spanish-speaking country.

Stellan also mentioned his fantastic experiences in drama and theater productions. He said, “The vulnerability and openness there is amazing. One of the most valuable lessons I learned at Lakeside was from a drama class where Mikey taught us the method of acting that was based on intention and purpose. And I have been able to apply that in other places in my life.”

He found a phenomenal experience by spending a semester away in Vermont at the Mountain School. It helped him reflect on his time at Lakeside, grow as a person, and make fantastic new friends.

Yoon talked about the benefits of Lakeside clubs: “I will rag on about how many clubs we have right now, but the upside is that you can make a club easily and explore your interests. There’s also just a lot of room to explore things potentially not related to the curriculum, like with Bird Club.”

What will the future hold?

Looking into the future, Stellan said, “In college, I’m just looking to explore. I don’t know what I want to do professionally, so I’m hoping college will be a time where I can pull all these different passions and experiences that have been super meaningful for me and see where they overlap and explore.” He believes that it’s a misconception that you need to have everything figured out. When you get too settled in your group or your interests, it makes things a little too narrow. That’s why he found it important to continuously extend yourself to meet new people and try new things like with Mountain School.

Zora finished with, “In the future, I just want to do something that I’m passionate about. I want to wake up and be excited for the new day, excited for work, and excited for the rest of my life. I might not have a specific goal yet, but I just want to keep doing things that I enjoy and carry them with me as I go on through life.”