Connor Shanhan ‘24 | Gautam Ketkar ‘24
Summer is only a month away and EA offers many summer opportunities for students where they can learn, volunteer, or have fun. These activities include working with Horizons and taking different types of summer courses.
For many students, college applications are the primary motivating factor behind participating in summer programming. However, the College Counseling Office disagrees with this strategy. Mariana Ramirez, Associate Director of College Counseling, says the most important thing is that, “students engage with and do activities that matter to them and that are interesting to them.”
The College Counseling Office encourages students to get involved in activities this summer and normally holds a fair where students can learn more about the opportunities available, usually taking place in January or February. Ramirez explains, “We will have a summer opportunities fair where we have all different kinds of representatives from Episcopal and outside of Episcopal come and set up tables and provide information, resources, and brochures. They will tell students how to get involved and how to apply for their particular program.”
Pursuing activities that students are interested in will help them in the college process while also being more enjoyable. Ramirez explains, “When it comes time to speak or write about themselves or about their interests or about their activities, they are able to do it in a much more authentic way.”
Through summer classes, students can receive school credits as well as advance their learning. EA students can currently participate in courses taught by Episcopal’s teachers or classes offered by the Global Online Academy (GOA). Maggie Dugery ‘23 explains, “I took Genocide and Intro to Investments through GOA.” These are only two of the myriad of GOA classes that EA students have the opportunity to take. These classes can appeal to any student that wants to explore something new, dive deeper into an existing passion, or fulfill a required course credit, freeing up time during the school year. Dugery continues, “I took Genocide during the summer of 2020 because there wasn’t much to do and I wanted to fulfill my religion requirement. I took Intro to Investments during the spring semester of my sophomore year. I wanted to learn the basics about the stock market and investing, but EA didn’t really have any courses surrounding that, so I took that class and really liked both of them.”
The most popular EA summer courses are the religion courses, which include Biblical Literature, Ethics and Living in a Social World. Many students opt to take summer religion courses in order to fulfill credits and lighten the workload during the school year. Fernando Loor ‘24, who will take Living in a Social World, expresses this sentiment by saying, “I think it will relieve stress on me, especially senior year, getting credits done as it is a religion credit.”
Volunteering is another major component of the summer program here at Episcopal. Students can make a difference and give back to their community through hands-on action. Ramirez encourages students to take part in community service over the summer, saying, “The ultimate takeaway of volunteering is that you are able to really reflect on what it means to be of service to others.”
One program in particular, Horizons at EA, is a great volunteering opportunity that allows EA students to serve others. Horizons focuses on helping underprivileged children in Philadelphia catch up on learning that they have fallen behind on. The program also helps these students learn to swim and take advantage of many other unique opportunities. EA students teach the kids in academic subjects and help them grow in other aspects of life.
Daniel Demessie ‘24 comments, “I think Horizons is a great opportunity to do some volunteering and contribute to the community. I also felt that it would be interesting to work with students and try to help them through the summer.” While the ultimate goal is to help underprivileged kids reach their full potential, EA students also learn positive lessons in this volunteering opportunity. Horizons is a great way for upper schoolers to build character, while also having an enjoyable experience. Rohan Sivukumar ‘24, a Horizons student volunteer, says “I think it was very rewarding and fulfilling to give back to the underserved community.
He also talks about the relationships with the students that he formed, explaining “The bonds that I formed with these students will stay with me through my time as a high school student.” All of these activities give students an opportunity to enjoy their summer through learning and volunteering.