In pursuit of passions
Katie Nail ’16
From the theater, to the lab, to the studio, Sacred Heart faculty inspire students to pursue their dreams inside and outside of the classroom. Four members of the Class of 2015 cultivated specific talents at Sacred Heart and will continue to pursue these passions in college.
Senior Anabeth Bostrup will follow her artistic talents at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) next fall.
Anabeth developed her love for art at a young age, and continued to shape her talents at Sacred Heart.
“I spent a lot of time in elementary school getting in trouble for doodling on my math homework and in the margins of workbooks,” Anabeth said. “When I was in sixth grade, my art teacher, who attended RISD, actually introduced me to the idea of going to school for art and since then I’ve made it my priority to work toward that goal.”
This year, while other seniors were writing their college essays, Anabeth spent time building an art portfolio to send to colleges.
“As an essay has to be tailored to a specific school, so does the artwork in a portfolio. Some colleges were looking for observational drawings such as model studies and nature still lifes, while others were looking for more inventive and creative pieces,” Anabeth said. “For RISD specifically, along with an essay, I had to create two works of art: the first was a bicycle done in graphite, and the second was a drawing in any medium that had to illustrate either time, motion, light or sound.”
In the future, Anabeth hopes to use her talents to illustrate children’s books, something she has wanted to do since she was a child.
Senior Miranda Falk will pursue her passion for theater at Skidmore College in the fall.
Miranda’s love of theater began when she took on the role of Student Director in the Middle School’s rendition of Peter Pun. She then started attending theater camps at State University of New York at Purchase and is now an avid actor in Sacred Heart’s Upper School musicals.
As part of her application to Skidmore, Miranda had to send in two monologues and a parody of a documentary (mockumenatary) that she made with seniors Gabrielle Giacomo and Mary Grace Henry.
“Making the mockumentary was fun because it was really last minute. We also filmed the entire thing in one afternoon, and it was really fun to piece it all together and witness how the story emerged from different points of view,” Miranda said. “We had the basic framework for the story, but we had to weave it all together on the spot. Like – here is point A, there’s point D, now try to get there. That part was really awesome.”
When Miranda leaves for Skidmore College this fall, she will miss Sacred Heart because it has helped her develop her dramatic interests.
“I have been at Sacred Heart for 13 years, and I really value everything the institution has taught me,” Miranda said. “In college, I just want to keep doing my craft and doing it well.”
Senior Gabby Giacomo will attend New York University Tisch School of the Arts to follow her dream of film production.
Gabby’s interest in film stems from her enthusiasm for creative writing and acting. To complement an acting class she signed up for at the New York Film Academy, Gabby joined a creative filming class, and instantly fell in love.
“I love film because it creates boundless possibilities. It is a way to look at the world that we live in and question if there is more. It is a way to connect with people that you may never meet in real life. It is a way to spark the need for change,” Gabby said. “I love that film has taught me to appreciate the beauty and fleetingness of every moment, and that through my films, I can hopefully inspire people to see this in their lives as well.”
Gabby’s film career took off at Sacred Heart, where she learned to put her talents into practice. This year, in the 2015 Greenwich Youth Film Festival, Gabby and her partner, senior Mary Grace Henry, placed first in the Creative Category for their piece In Time. Gabby’s piece Resplendent was awarded first in the Music Video Category, and won the Best of the Festival award.
“Sacred Heart has taught me the value of time management. Life definitely does not stop for deadlines. If anything, the seconds before a final due date fly by in an instant. I have learned how to plan for the unexpected and make things work when the pressure is on,” Gabby said.
Senior Alex Bolanos has decided to follow her passion for science at Princeton University this fall.
Alex plans to major in Chemical and Biological Engineering. To achieve this goal, a Princeton science professor helped her obtain an internship this summer at the City College of New York in the fields of Brain Interface, and Biological and Chemical Engineering.
Although Alex is eager to begin this new chapter in her science career, she is sentimental about leaving the scientific community at Sacred Heart, where she developed her zeal for the subject.
“I have loved science and math since elementary school, but I really took science a step further by taking science research here in tenth grade,” Alex said. “It was during this class that I found out I wanted to pursue bioengineering. I realized that I did not just want to do research, but I wanted to take it a step further and actually create.”
– Elizabeth Bachmann, Staff Writer
