Alexis Chapin

I’ve never been exceptionally smitten with math; in middle school I couldn’t seem to keep up with my classmates. When I arrived at NMH as a freshman, Algebra I was on my first-semester schedule. My teacher walked in wearing orange pants and carrying a Frisbee under his arm (this seemed strange to me until I learned he was the Ultimate Frisbee coach). He introduced himself as Mr. Yates, and after a few minutes he sent us to the white board to do problems.

I got stuck quickly. I started erasing the problem. Before I was done, Mr. Yates was standing next to me. “Need some help?” he asked. When he started explaining the problem to me, I didn’t understand, so he tried another way of explaining, which worked like magic. “I’ll make a mental note that that works better for you,” he said before running to help another student. I was astonished. As the semester went on, I became more and more comfortable asking for help from Mr. Yates and my classmates. At the end of Algebra I, I still wasn’t sure if math was the subject for me, but the ease I found in asking for help carried me forth into geometry.

I’m involved in two outreach groups on campus. One is Piglets to Hoggers, a program that matches students with faculty kids on campus. I hang out with a little girl for a few hours every week. It’s been really fun to watch her grow; also, when everything gets hectic in the adolescent world, it’s not so bad to go back to kicking it four-year-old style. The other group I’m involved with is United Way. The NMH branch focuses on Franklin County, which is the poorest county in Massachusetts. We help with homeless shelters and education programs. As a teenager at an incredible place like NMH, it’s easy to forget about people who are less fortunate than us. The outreach program does a great job of helping us keep things in perspective.

Through every experience I’ve had at NMH, I’ve gained a sense of myself that’s irreplaceable. I’m certain the self I’ve found here is the best one I could have come across.

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Alexis Chapin

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