Clara graduated from Putney on June 3, 2007. A die-hard Red Sox fan, one of her last accomplishments at Putney was her senior exhibition on "The Physics of Baseball"—and, in particular, on "The Science of Batting." Clara started with one question: What happens when a baseball bat hits a ball? Then...

1. She defined her variables: The masses of the ball and the bat and the velocities of the ball and bat before and after their collision.
2. She plotted her own bat swing.
3. She predicted and then measured ball speeds.
4. She also researched the concept of the "Coefficient of Restitution," a fractional value representing the ratio of velocities before and after ball meets bat. (Essentially, it's a measure of bounciness. Flubber would have a COR nearing 1. A bowling ball would have a COR nearing 0.)

For two months, Clara carefully measured and calculated. And at the end?

"I had to acknowledge some mistakes I made. When I conducted my trials on campus, I did so before I knew anything about CORs, and the two balls that I used had vastly different CORs. I had neglected to keep track of which ball I used when.

Fortunately, I was lucky enough to spend some time at the Baseball Research Lab at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. Relying on their resources—which included scientists with good senses of humor, brand new baseballs with known CORs, and a batting simulator—I was able to determine that the mathematical approaches that I had cobbled together were, indeed, able to predict balls speeds with a reasonable amount of accuracy."

Clara's senior exhibition did not create in her a burning desire to measure bat and ball velocities for the rest of her days. "Or to measure anything for the rest of my days. I am strongly drawn to both math and science. But I don't see my future as a 'bench scientist.' I want to use math and science to make a difference in something large, something along the lines of sustainability and community development."

Clara came to Putney at the beginning of her junior year, having been raised in Costa Rica. In the spring semester of her senior year at Putney she received letters of acceptance from Pomona, Dartmouth, and Amherst colleges. Pomona was too far away. ("Imagine the energy expenditure getting me there and back a few times a year!") Dartmouth was appealing but didn't seem quite the right fit. On the verge of accepting Amherst's offer, she attended the college's formal "revisit" day.

"It was the president's formal remarks that helped me make my decision. He said that Amherst could sit back on its laurels and reputation. But instead it must take care to contribute abundantly and meaningfully to the intellectual and moral life of our nation and our world. Something he said touched a chord. He was voicing the institutional attitude that I'd heard expressed so many times at Putney, and I saw a match between the mission of the high school that I've loved and the college I was considering. I'm looking forward to leaving Putney ready for a life in which I turn the knowledge and skills I have acquired into meaningful action."