Where am I from?
Great question! Honestly I struggle to answer this question every time someone asks.
If you mean ‘Where does your immediate family live?’ I would say the capital city of Kyrgystan, Bishkek. If you mean ‘What is your country of origin?’ I would say that I was born and identify as an American citizen. If you mean “What (U.S.) state are you from?” I would say Washington state.
Messy right?
But if you mean ‘Where do you call home?’ I would say Putney!
What brought me to The Putney School?
Funny story. When my parents and I decided to look into applying to a boarding school we originally used a website that would pull up boarding schools that filled my criteria (learning support, snow, etc…). Among those was the Colorado Rocky Mountain School. We did some more research and found that CRMS was founded by teachers from another school, Putney!
What am I interested in studying and learning about?
I’m interested in a lot of things but right now I’m focusing on psychology (probably clinical). This by itself is not a class offered at Putney but there are plenty of things that give little pieces of information which I can then use later in an official class (college hopefully). Some classes that I took or am taking in this area include Anatomy and Physiology 1 & 2, Comparative Religions, and Social Psychology.
I also enjoy artistic pursuits offered at Putney ranging from Ballet (I’m taking my 4th trimester of it right now!) to fiber arts, jewelry making, printmaking, and even digital drawing!
What are three things people don’t know about me or may be surprised to learn about me?
Well, one thing that’s really important to me that relates to Putney is my identity as a non-binary person. Before getting here I had very little to no understanding of what it was to be transgender and what I did know was negative and incorrect. But upon getting here I was puzzled by the trans students and slowly but surely worked to understand the identity better. At first, I thought that I was just an ally but in the winter of my sophomore year, I was finally able to admit to myself that I wasn’t just very curious about it but feeling it myself. I came out as non-binary to the school that spring and have experienced nothing but support and willingness to learn from the Putney community.
As for the other facts? They certainly aren’t as powerful and Putney related but here are perhaps the third and fourth thing you would learn about me after my name and pronouns (they/them).
I have a cat; his name is Mr. Smith and I miss him VERY much while I’m away from him. (It does not make up for this but there are some cats I can visit on campus).
I am very passionate about tea. This doesn’t mean that I know how to properly perform a tea ceremony or even tell different green tea’s apart by taste but I do REALLY like tea. You will certainly find me nursing a hot cup of English Breakfast with milk each morning if you happen upon breakfast at the KDU (school cafeteria).