20 for 20: Rory Weiskopf, Class of 2022

It’s kind of sad, but I am excited, too. I really like the teachers and the students are nice. I have mixed feelings – it’s the end of an era.

I went to Bertschi School before coming to SGS, and the Head of School there, Rafael del Castillo, used to be the Head of School at Seattle Girls’ School and told us how great it was. We visited SGS, and the teachers seemed really nice and like they really care. Seattle Girls’ School had a really nice environment.

I like being confident – I like talking to people a lot – and I’d like to stay that way. Sometimes in other schools, I’d worry that there would be too much going on that could make someone fall behind.

There are so many teachers who stand out in so many ways. One of them is Kara, she’s a math teacher. She has a really great sense of humor. She’s amazing. She’ll give you extra credit if you ask. Sometimes I’ll come in at lunch and ask, “Hey! Can we do math?” Or I’ll email her questions when I get confused, and she’ll answer the next day, and we’ll talk about it.

Then there is Profe, she’s currently my advisor, and we’ve been friendly since sixth grade. Her name is Libby, but everyone calls her Profe because she’s the Spanish teacher, and it’s a really great nickname. She’s also really funny and has been at SGS a really long time. Everyone can tell she cares.

There is also Wendy – founding member – and you can tell how much she cares about her work. She jumps around the classroom and tells you the stuff you really need to know. She gives you multiple views and multiple sides of an argument. She really puts in the work.

And also Ms. Lulu. She can command the class using humor alone. She’s really kind, and she really knows kids. She’s very whimsical and loves dinosaurs. She isn’t afraid to join in the jokes in class instead of just shutting them down. You can tell she hasn’t forgotten what it was like to be a kid, and she uses that to help people learn because she knows how she learned when she was young.

Next year I’m going to University Prep. There is this college called Oberlin, where my dad went to, and I look at all the courses and I want to go to all of them. I don’t want to make a decision too early about what I’ll do after high school – let’s figure out what I’m good at first.

Raise your hand, even when you don’t exactly know the answer. Sometimes, you need to set your own boundaries. Like if there is an assignment or something happening that makes you uncomfortable, just talk to the adults and they’ll listen, but they aren’t mind readers, so you need to speak up. We do a lot about exploring and understanding your identity – so keep an open mind. Some things you might not understand, but you don’t have to know everything all at once.