2015F L I N T R I D G E P R E P A R A T O R Y S C H O O L

The Class of 2015 is unique and always has been. They are a group of individuals. Each brings to Prep his or her original way of thinking and approach to everything from a day’s assignment to a large group celebration. They are creative thinkers and artists, evidenced by their outstanding work in this year’s Folio. They are determined athletes, as shown by their many victories (or passionately-played almost-victories) in individual and team sports. And they are deeply probing scholars, as we heard in their ID presentations that ranged from inquiries into every-thing from veganism to affirmative action, from NCAA athletes to the psychology of serial killers.

These seniors helped each other through difficult situations with incredible dignity and class, and they supported each other’s achievement and joys with those same qualities. Never content to accept the status quo, they are a class of thinkers, challengers and questioners, and those traits, mixed with their deeply rooted interests, create a recipe for some truly promis-ing, fascinating futures. I was very proud to be their senior dean. I watched them all walk across the stage at graduation feeling a sense of completion, but also of anticipation—knowing that they will create, perhaps more than follow, incredibly exciting paths in their lives past Prep.

— Dr. Tyke O’Brien, 12th Grade Dean

“Their motivation was always

intrinsic; it was never about the

grade or the resume. It was

always about their own genuine

interests or curiosity—about

exploring their strengths and

shoring up their weaknesses.”

Scott Myers, English

B A C C A L A U R E AT E

At Baccalaureate, held May 30, the senior class came together in Norris Auditorium to reflect and to look to the future with their speaker, Julia Stewart, CEO of DineEquity and mother of Alec Greenawalt ’15 and Aubrey Greenawalt ‘17. Headmaster Peter Bachmann introduced her, saying, “She’s been around pancakes since she was a 16-year-old waitress at IHOP. But as the 13-year CEO of America’s largest casual dining com-pany, which includes IHOP and Applebee’s, her current duties are somewhat more sophisticated. Identified by Forbes Magazine as one of our 50 most powerful women, she oversees 3,600 restaurants in 14 countries. In addition, she serves on profit and non-profit boards, from Avery Dennison and the Children’s Bureau to the Music Center. “We talk a lot about the need to find balance in busy lives, to combine strength and compassion, grit with graciousness. Earlier this year, when I used the word grit in conversation with her, she looked me in the eye and said, ‘I am grit.’ I believe her. She’s also gracious.” Stewart shared her version of “grit” with the class, as well as lessons about passion and commitment. The daughter of school teachers who feared she was disap-pointing them by going into business, Stewart said she discovered that, as a manager, mentor and CEO, she is teaching every day. She has been able to follow her passion and acknowledge the expectations of those around her. “The good news: you are now going to be fully in control to define happiness, to define success, not on somebody else’s terms, not on society’s terms, but on your terms,” she said. She advised students to consider their futures and to accept challenges and pressure with grace.

C O M M E N C E M E N T W E E K E N D

Commencement took place on the evening of May 31 in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, attended by friends, family and faculty in full academic regalia. Many of the graduating seniors sported peeling faces as a consequence of their senior trip to sunny Santa Barbara. Class Speaker Chae Kim turned the col-lective sunburn into a metaphor for the class’ journey through Prep. “Freshman year I thought I was too cool for sun-screen,” she said, “and I got terribly burnt…” She went on to say that signing up to sing at JPD changed her trajectory. “The process was what made the whole thing re-ally special for me…And I think this was where I actually started peeling. I got to hang out with more people, got to know a lot more classmates, and I learned how wonderful these people are…words of encouragement and kindness were coming left and right, everyone was caring, we all supported each other, we all believed in each other…my classmates have pulled for me, they’ve given me so much; they gave me the confidence to break out of my shell—to peel off my dead skin. “So by senior year my sunburn was pretty much done…And I know that I can’t speak for everyone, but for the most part we have all worked past the burning, and the pain and the peeling, together as a class. Now we’re older, we’re wiser and a whole lot more attractive …the greatest moments, the best memories of my life happened at Prep.” JD Papanikolas, valedictorian and winner of the Benton Trophy, also claimed growth and change (and good looks) for the Class of 2015: “We were labeled ‘the class without passion’…we were cautious and careful at the start of our high school careers,” he said. “Class of 2015, I am unbelievably proud to say that we have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are one of the fiercest and most pas-sionate classes in recent memory…We have silenced the doubters and critics and have shown the Prep com-munity that we are committed to our education, to our school and, most importantly, to each other. Papanikolas gave his class new labels, which he said were more fitting of their collective personality.

C O M M E N C E M E N T

“Now we are the inspired and inspiring class. We are confident and humble, successful and grounded, outgoing and patient and, might I add, really, really, ridiculously good looking. We are the class of artists and athletes, scholars and workers. We are the class of dreamers, fighters, leaders, and thinkers…We can and will change the world for the better.” The class gift, split between a donation to La Mas-cota Pediatric Hospital in Nicaragua and funds for the renovation of the Prep kitchen office, according to 12th Grade Dean Dr. Tyke O’Brien, “shows their ethical un-dercurrent, their sense of responsibility and their pride in their home base.” The class experienced losses that brought the class together. According to Dean O’Brien, the students “showed incredible maturity and grace, and a true abil-ity to read and empathize with their classmates. They managed to give each other what they needed, when they needed it. That’s a tribute.” The giving nature of the Class of 2015 was exempli-fied by their class award, presented to College Counsel-ing Associate Claire Kinder ’08 by class president Kevin Park. It read: “You helped keep us together when fall-ing apart seemed inevitable. Your constant support and motivation guided us through one of the most stressful parts of our journey at Prep. We could not have done it without you, Ms. Kinder.” Their valedictorian and class speaker nailed it: the Class of 2015 is both independent and grateful, quirky and compassionate, intellectual and emotional. They grew and changed while remaining true to themselves. They reject labels. They embrace challenge. They were Rebels, and it seems they will be Rebels for life.

Benjamin Harry Aledort

Adam Jaffer Aluzri

Kenalyn Caron Lacson Ang

Lauren Kristi Au

Ari Peter Baranian

Timothy Harrison Starrett Bates

Rachel Lauren Benn

Luke Oliver Boyd

Kyla Sibbe Bradley

Christopher Louis Brummett

Lauren Rhee Burke

Makayla Jaffry Campbell

Samantha Marie Case

Kathryn Nicole Cassutt

Erin Seulgi Chang

Lacy Sierra Coan

Jackson Alan Codiga

Dylan William Coon

Marina Justine Corbisiero

Peter Alexander Culpepper

Reilly Michael Spain Dalleska

Megan Jane Davies

Diego Alexander Delgado

Tyler Andrew Dill

Raphael Isaac Dreyfuss

Alyssa Elvira Aranguren Evans

Tyler Lauren Faulkner

Charles Nicholas Fellows

Gabriel Harrison Fernández

Mark Bennett Frazer

Karlie Hecht Garrity

C L A S S O F 2 0 1 5

David Hunter Gibson

Sabrina Lauren Lew Goodman

Alexandra Mac Dhubhain Graves

Alec William Greenawalt

Alexander James Taylor Gunning

Aileene Han

Miles Angus Harber

Lauren Marie Hekman

Alejandro Pedro Hernandez-Zapata

Maximiliano Pedro Hernandez-Zapata

Alejandro Roberto Hirsch Marin

Lindsey Rachel Hunt

Jordan Taylor Jones

Riley Walker Jones

Cassidy Minae Jung

Eric Kang

John Morgan Keane

Alexander Wong Khalsa Mendenhall

Chae Won Kim

Isaac Hyosang Kim

Jiyoung Ashley Kim

Ashley Brooke Lara

Gary Ka-Long Lee

Bryce Patrick Lew

Kaley Marie Liang

Madeleine Carol Stern Maker

Olivia Anne Markowitz

Robert Snow Martin

Oona Quinn Kingsley McDowell

Patrick Hagop Minassians

Evan Thomas Monroe

Sophia Moradi

Daniela Kristine Motte

James Dance Nowotny

Derek Edward Okuno

Alexander Jiri Orloff

Alexander Battiste Palazzo

James DeMedici Papanikolas

Kevin Kwon Park

William Scott Penn

Adam William Perkins

Patrick Luke Perkins

Zachary Raul Picker

Brandt Malmberg Rohde

Neiki Maryam Rokni

Elizabeth Violet Roy

Hannah Rae Rubinstein

Bailey Lauren Thompson

Matthew Richard Tso

Jonathan Hong Zen Wang

Austin Tianhong Wang

Shannon Wei

Barrett Tatsuyoshi Weiss

Gareth Masahiko Weiss

Cameron Thomas Wen

Madison Riley Witt

Elliot Stephen Witter

Kaitlin Madison Wong

Ella Milne Worley

Julian Nathaniel Yamamoto

Kelly Kali Yu

Krystle Keju Yu

Christopher David Zaro

Sophy Zhao

“ As time went on, I began to see that

this was a class that truly merits the name

“Rebels.” They regarded all things with

a healthy skepticism, doggedly guarded

their individual boundaries and resisted

all attempts to make them into a more

generic version of what adults think

teenagers should be.”

Josh Perlman, History

American University

Amherst College

Bard College

Boston College

Brown University

California Polytechnic State University, San

Luis Obispo

Carleton College

Case Western Reserve University

Chapman University

College of William and Mary

Cornell University

Dartmouth College

Fordham University

Grinnell College

Hamilton College

Hampshire College

Harvard University

Johns Hopkins University

Kenyon College

Lafayette College

Linfield College

Loyola Marymount University

Macalester College

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Middlebury College

New York University

Northwestern University

Oberlin College

Pitzer College

Rice University

Santa Clara University

Stanford University

Texas Christian University

The George Washington University

Tufts University

Tulane University

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Irvine

University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, Santa Barbara

University of California, Santa Cruz

University of Chicago

University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Edinburgh

University of Miami

University of Michigan

University of Nebraska at Lincoln

University of Pennsylvania

University of Puget Sound

University of San Francisco

University of Southern California

University of St. Andrews

University of Virginia

University of Washington

Washington University in St. Louis

Wellesley College

Whitman College

Willamette University

Williams College

M AT R I C U L AT I O N