This week, your Humans of CPS Team interviewed five lovely seniors (clockwise, from top left)— Noa, Isaac, Emma, Kenny, and Zach — for our eighth week of Seniors of CPS interviews. Some were interviewed in sunny living rooms right after school, others in quiet bedrooms, or even at school! These interviews include responses to various questions designed to help you get to know our seniors a bit better and to give you some insight into their memories from the past four years at College Prep. We hope you enjoy!
Q: What is something unique about you/a fun fact that your classmates might not know?
Noa: When I was maybe 13, I decided that the best course of life for me would be to train myself to be a suave, manipulative, charismatic, cultured villain, and to take over the world. So, over the course of that training process, I feel like I’ve learned a lot, even though I’m not quite there yet, obviously. I’m appreciative of my 13-year-old self’s goal.
Isaac: Let’s see. I don’t know, I mean, I feel like people know a lot about me. I guess I like hanging out with my dog a lot. He’s a goldendoodle, and he’s only 14 pounds. He’s just kind of a weird dog.
Emma: I’m very interested in lost city myths. Like Atlantis, and other cities like that.
Zach: Okay… this is definitely on the nerdier side of me, but I got really good at this video game called Rocket League, which sounds funny, but it’s actually really intricate, just incredibly detailed. It’s just really fun; there’s boosting and you can fly and stuff. But yeah— I got really good at this game, and went pretty close to going pro, and it's one of my favorite hobbies.
Kenny: I’m actually a black belt in Capoeira, which is Brazilian dance fighting. I’ve been training since I was a little kid; I go to this brazilian dojo every summer for two months and I train every day from 6:00 am to 10:00 at night. I don’t think anyone really knows that.
Q: What is one word you would use to describe your four years at College Prep?
Noa: Probably… exciting. I think there was always something new to discover, and learn, and think about, and talk about, and I really enjoyed that.
Isaac: Weird.
Emma: Probably packed. There was always a million things to do.
Zach: Unpredictable? I don't know. That feels really basic. Maybe wack? But in a good way I guess? I don't know.
Kenny: One single word that I would use would be that College Prep has been a very enlightening experience, both academically and through the friendships that I’ve made. That’s my one word.
Q: How would you describe your four years at College Prep and the people that you spent those four years with?
Noa: I think the idea of conversations keeps coming back to me as I think on it— the number of different topic ideas and ideas that can come up— and I’ve just really enjoyed the opportunity to discuss things that can be complicated, and profound, as well as the things that are silly, with all the people in the community.
Isaac: I think it was weird, because it’s such a small high school and everyone kind of knows everyone and there's no privacy. It’s also weird to be one of the only Black students in your grade. And then it’s kind of weird just with the journey of growing up and thinking about that from my current perspective.
Emma: Everyone was super determined— it was nice to be with people who had such strong goals. People were so serious about school and working hard. Nothing ever felt like busy work at CPS. It all seemed like it had a purpose, or was leading up to something. I think that was really nice.
Zach: I would just say that CPS was definitely a great experience for me. This is going in a weird direction, but if I were to choose a school again (like, if I were doing the high school process again), it would be CPS because it's a really great place. I feel like I've learned a lot, and I've learned how to learn, which is really good. I’ve met a ton of really nice people and have some great friends that I'm hoping and planning on keeping into later in my life… but yeah! Really fun. That's kind of broad, but I feel like it covers it pretty well.
Kenny: I came to College Prep from San Francisco, so I think it’s definitely a little bit of a different experience because it's almost like having two different lives. You have two different circles of friends and you feel kind of disconnected when you’re not at school, so I would say it was a very interesting experience. The academics were very intense, which was good for me because it kept me from getting distracted. There are some really down to earth soulful people here as well.