Unandi
Randolph, Vermont
Excited to spread his wings and try new things at a boarding school, Unandi thrived as a scholar, a student leader, a musician, and an athlete.
What brought me to NMH:
When I applied to NMH, I was drawn to its diverse community and its many academic and extracurricular opportunities. The prospect of NMH's promise of independence and self-discovery was exhilarating. I vividly remember the culture shock I experienced during my tour of NMH and the thrill of connecting with students from diverse backgrounds. I was eager to break free from the familiarity of my small town and embrace the new and the different that NMH had in store for me.
My activities at NMH:
I engaged in diverse service activities, shaping my sense of responsibility and impact. As a dorm Resident Leader, I guided 9th-graders in Chan Cottage, fostering a welcoming environment. As a Student Engagement Leader, I led campus tours and panels. As a co-leader of Brothers, I fostered a community promoting inclusion and fun for Black-identifying students of color. These activities have immensely impacted my life, giving me a deeper understanding of people and teaching me to be a natural and positive leader.
My senior spring semester, I taught French to 4th-graders at Northfield Elementary School as part of my French IV: Service-Learning Project class. I was selected as the first tenor saxophone chair for the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Western District Senior Festival. This honor also came with an All-State recommendation. I also lead the Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, and Honors Jazz Combo as first tenor. Jazz has shaped my character and how I approach every task with drive and care, traits I require to succeed with confidence and resilience when facing many challenges.
I co-founded Recreational Equipment Drive, or RED, a social business on the NMH campus, as part of my Rhodes Fellowship Course in Social Entrepreneurship. As CFO, I managed finances while selling donated sports gear at reduced prices to reduce waste and donating profits to charity. RED reminds me to keep looking for solutions to problems and gives me the courage to search for them in an organized manner.
I also played basketball, soccer, and lacrosse and was on the track and field team, where I threw discus, javelin, and shot put. Additionally, I participated in Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western Mass, and went to Belize during spring break for environmental service learning.
Something new I tried at NMH:
As soon as I arrived on the NMH campus, I sought out information about the NMH Jazz Ensemble and quickly joined. Coming to NMH exposed me to jazz and all its wonders, and I am proud to have played for the last three years and am excited to pursue this passion more in college. Jazz has changed my worldview and is my constant companion, source of solace, and mirror to my emotions.
My favorite class at NMH:
Advanced Topics in U.S. History: For the People. This fast-paced history course guided me through essential moments in U.S. history and explained how history can dictate what decisions we make in the future.
My favorite activity at NMH:
The dances, specifically Spring Jam. Spring Jam is a white-out party where all the students wear white, and colors in the form of paint or powder are thrown on the students. For the Halloween dance, my friends and I dressed up as characters from the movie “Inside Out.” I have never put as much effort into a Halloween costume as this year when I was Joy. We laughed and danced the night away with our hilarious costumes. We realized it was our last NMH Halloween dance, so we knew all the fun was to be had that night.
NMH’s community is like no other. Between all the activities one does and the number of people in your dorm, there is a person for everyone.”
Favorite food in Alumni Hall:
The peach cobbler. After a long day of classes, extracurriculars, and other activities, warming up a rather large plate of peach cobbler and putting vanilla ice cream on it to the point that it drips off of my plate onto the table is one of the best feelings that food has given me — pure excitement. The dish is perfect every time.
Favorite spot on campus:
Second to my room, the Rhodes Arts Center is another home for me on the NMH campus. The RAC allows me to refine my jazz skills on my tenor saxophone. It allows me to expand my creative ability and become a better musician. There are days when I have spent countless hours there due to practicing for an upcoming jazz festival and or audition, spending time with my friends recording a song, or making pottery in the ceramics room. I could not go a day without going there.
Favorite NMH traditions:
Hogolympics, a dorm vs. dorm competition with events from cup stacking to slow bike riding. Hogolympics propels the strong community that the dorms have and helped me get closer to my residents. We did not care about winning or losing but about having fun and being together as a dorm. After most of our events were over, we poured a bucket of water on our dorm head, Emmet Flynn, as if we had won a championship.
An educator who’s been especially supportive during my time at NMH:
Emmet Flynn was my dorm head for the 2024-25 school year and immediately projected a personality of care and compassion. He offered me a lot of helpful advice during my senior year, and a lot of laughs, and I doubt I could have survived my last year without him.
Tom Bloom was one of the first teachers I became close with, and I am privileged to have known him on multiple levels: in the classroom when he taught my Advanced US History course that guided me to pursue a passion of politics in the future, in the dorm as my dorm parent, or on the field as my soccer coach. He and I would often get into deep philosophical conversations when I was on duty in the dorm.
English teacher Meg Eisenhauer developed my writing skills immensely, and she is a big reason why I consider myself a good writer. She is a fantastic teacher and incredibly supportive person.
Advice I would give myself if I could go back to my first day at NMH:
Lean in 100%. I would tell my old self to take every opportunity you can to do what you want and be happy, because after a long time of leaning in, I am not entirely sure if I am ready to step out.
What’s special to me about NMH:
NMH’s community is like no other. Between all the activities one does and the number of people in your dorm, there is a person for everyone. I quickly found my people within the first week. I was able to make connections on the basketball, soccer, and lacrosse teams; in my jazz ensemble; in my concert band; and in my time in the Black Student Union and Brothers. These connections are so strong that it feels like I have known them for a lifetime.
How NMH has changed me:
NMH has made me a more independent, kind, and knowledgeable person. It offers a lot through its classes, leadership opportunities, dorm community, and many other things. Through my position as a Resident Leader or captain on JV boys’ soccer, I flourished as a leader and student. The independence it granted me makes me feel prepared for the next steps in my life. NMH is my home.
What I will miss most about NMH:
I will miss its loving community. I came in as a new 10th-grader and lacked the prior experience of NMH that many of my friends had in their 9th-grade year. However, this inexperience did not matter because of how warm the NMH community was when I first arrived on campus. Because of all the close-knit communities I have been a part of, I've formed lifelong friendships in just three years.
Plan for the fall:
I will attend the University of Pennsylvania to major in philosophy, politics, and economics. I plan to pursue a career as a policymaker in the U.S. government.