Dennis

Our coach has always been trying to push us to not only be better athletes, but just better men in general. The words ‘leave it better than you found it’ is definitely something that will stick with me.

Dennis

Dennis was always a year younger than his classmates, so when he arrived at Northfield Mount Hermon as a junior, he was excited about the opportunity to spend an extra year exploring new interests, making connections, and preparing for college.

Over the past two years, Dennis – who is from Great Barrington, Massachusetts – has seized every opportunity possible. He’s an athlete on the varsity soccer and track and field teams, a class chair on the Student Government, a Resident Leader in the dorms, a member of the Student Diversity Committee – the list goes on.

“Setting foot on campus my first year, there were just so many avenues to get to know people and really be integrated into the community,” says Dennis.

Soccer has been central to Dennis’ experience at NMH. Every year, the soccer team spends its preseason at Camp Pemigewassett in New Hampshire, giving the team a chance to practice and set goals and allowing new players the opportunity to get to know each other ahead of the season.

“The memory that stands out to me wasn’t on the field,” Dennis recalls from his first preseason at NMH. “We were sitting around the campfire, and the sun was setting while we talked about the goals we wanted to achieve as a team. … It was just a really great memory as a new student to be able to form that bond.”

Beyond soccer, Dennis has found fulfillment on the track and field team, and he even ventured into new territory by joining the JV swim team during the winter season.

“Being able to have a team and integrate into a new group of people, it brings a sense of purpose,” says Dennis. “And it’s great to have fun doing something that you love to do.”

In and out of athletics, Dennis is always finding that sense of purpose, trying new things and meeting people everywhere he goes.

This semester he is taking an arts class called “The Creative Impulse: Religion and the Performing Arts,” where students learn about the intersections between the arts, religion, and philosophy.

“They have us do a little bit of acting, and that was definitely something I wouldn’t have expected to do before coming here,” Dennis says with a chuckle. “I’m happy I did it.”

This year, Dennis also ran for Student Government – a dream of his since fifth grade – and was elected to one of three senior class chairs.

“It’s been fun,” he says. “It’s been great to practice my public speaking that I’ve always wanted to work on as well.” Dennis will put those public speaking skills to work as the Class of 2024 orator — the sole student speaker at graduation, a role for which he was selected after a competition against other interested seniors.

In the dorms, Dennis fosters a supportive community as a Resident Leader and a member of the Judicial Board, which enforces school rules. He is also on the Student Diversity Committee, which leads events like a recent talk with women’s rights activist Loretta Ross during MLK Week and an upcoming “International Carnival” where students from different backgrounds cook their traditional meals from home.

“It’s a cool way to bring people together and explore different flavors of the world,” Dennis says.

And in yet another leadership role, Dennis helps to head the Brothers affinity group, a supportive space for Black male-identifying students to form companionship.

“Not only is it a space for us to have fun … it’s a space where we can talk about tough topics that do come up as Black males,” Dennis says.

Looking ahead, Dennis plans to attend Northeastern University to study civil engineering.

Reflecting on his time at NMH, he embraces the mantra “leave it better than you found it,” his senior quote and a guiding principle instilled by his varsity soccer coach, Charlie Malcolm. 

“Our coach has always been trying to push us to not only be better athletes, but just better men in general,” Dennis says. “The words ‘leave it better than you found it’ is definitely something that will stick with me … at college and throughout my entire life.”

— By Maddie Fabian