'Useful,' 'passionate,' 'kind': Inter-Lakes' top 10 describe the adults they hope to become

MEREDITH — The top 10 graduating seniors at Inter-Lakes started their high school careers just as a global pandemic was about to erupt, and have experienced both the challenges of isolated and remote learning as well as what it means to be able to join together with their peers again. As they prepare to leave Inter-Lakes, some have an idea of what direction they’ll be heading in, some are planning to spend the next year figuring that out, and all have some idea of what kind of adult they’d like to be someday.

Eben Misavage, currently studying in Argentina as an exchange student, plans to take a gap year “to work, travel and apply for university." Misavage didn’t apply to universities this year due to being on exchange.

"I plan to pursue a degree in political science, and use that degree [to] work to combat climate change with a focus on geothermal energy and farming.”

Misavage, who would like to be described as “useful” as an adult, was a proud member of the school’s Lakerbots robotics team. Misavage said the Lakerbots will fill many of his favorite memories, as will an activity from another extracurricular activity.

“I will bring with me the memory of all the great afternoons spent playing Super Smash Bros. with the eSports Club,” Misavage said.

Wynter Santos will be studying English and history at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, a course of study that will position her to move in several directions later in life.

“I was thinking about becoming a librarian or going to law school,” Santos said. “I want to do something that will help the community.

“In school, dealing with being one of the few minorities, it showed me what a struggle it can be in the real world,” Santos said. She experienced situations or comments that “could be hurtful — I just want to help people who are like me.”

Santos said volunteer work, especially through the National Honor Society, helped her form an idea of what kind of work she wanted to do, and an experience she had in one of her classes helped her to understand the power of perspective.

“In my English class, we have a lot of discussions," she said. "That helped me with my own speaking and listening skills. Everyone found something different in what we were learning about.”

As an adult, Santos said she wants to be “passionate — Whatever it is that I’m doing, I want to enjoy doing that thing, feel like it is worth my time.

Kalan Brunell will be heading to Tufts University to study computer engineering this fall.

“I just really enjoy computers and technology, a job in that would really suit my interests,” Brunell said.

In eighth grade, Brunell built himself a computer. He then joined the school’s robotics team, and became one of its captains. “My interests expanded from there,” he said.

This year, the Lakerbots robotics team advanced all the way to the global competition, which Brunell said was “the kind of memory I’ll have for the rest of my life.”

Brunell is vice president of NHS, and has been a trumpeter since fourth grade. As an adult, he said he hopes to push the boundaries of what’s known and possible.

“In the field I hope to enter, I hope to be innovative, explore new fields, new subfields within them, be innovative.”

Kate DeTolla is heading to Providence College in Rhode Island to major in marketing with a focus on data analytics.

She said she’s “always liked data and numbers,” and after she took a statistics class, she knew that she wanted to work with data. Specifically, she would like to work in helping “new and upcoming” businesses thrive.

DeTolla plays in the band, is part of the Interact Club and the Future Business Leaders of America, and is class president. “But my favorite extracurriculars are soccer and lacrosse. I’ve been very lucky to have great coaches and teammates,” she said.

She also treasured her time working at Camp Nokomis, a summer camp she also attended as a child. “I love working with kids there. That’s where I really blossomed as a person.”

DeTolla believes in a “work hard, play hard” approach to life. She wants to succeed in her profession, “but I don’t want to be consumed by my career.” She said she wants to protect space in her life for connecting with friends and family, and for exploration. “I really love traveling and seeing things. It’s really important to take the time to go see places.”

Abram Weil-Cooley, a junior graduating a year early, is planning to take a gap year after collecting his diploma.

“I’m taking a summer program with the Youth Conservation Corps,” Weil-Cooley said. He expects to be occupied by working on trailheads and performing other duties to enhance the ecological values of recreational areas, and to “do some learning outside of the classroom.”

He isn’t certain yet what will happen after that year, but he knows where his interests lie.

“The two things I found out that I love are math and music,” he said, adding that if that list extended to three, Nordic skiing would fill the final slot.

His participation in Nordic skiing produced some of the most indelible memories for Weil-Cooley — and it wasn’t the races or the practices, he said.

“The buses to and from the races — there’s an element of camaraderie, there is an element of anticipation on the way there, and the shenanigans on the way back,” Weil-Cooley said.

Alissa McCarthy said she didn’t need to think for too long about what she should pursue after high school.

“All the women in my family are nurses, I followed in their footsteps,” she said. McCarthy will be attending the University of New Hampshire this fall, and following the nursing path. “My mom was a nurse, watching her work as a child inspired me.”

One of McCarthy’s favorite Inter-Lakes memories was participating in the class lip-syncing challenge, which she said was “really fun," and also helped develop bonds between class members.

She also will think fondly upon her time on the soccer team. “We had great coaches, a great team, and I’m really going to miss it.”

What will McCarthy be like as an adult? “I just hope to be a good person and contribute good things to my community,” she said.

Olivia Richards also is going to UNH. She will major in biology, with a minor in psychiatry, on the pre-med track.

“I want to go into psychiatry,” Richards said. “My focus would be adolescents and teens.”

Richards said she has “always been very emotionally aware with the people around me.” When COVID forced her to spend more time by herself, she said she began to analyze her own emotions, her relationships with those closest to her, and how her upbringing influenced her development.

This self-exploration went to a new level when she went away from home for several weeks as part of the advanced studies program at St. Paul’s School in Concord.

“That helped me navigate myself a lot,” Richards said.

Richards is co-president of Student Council and is part of the track-and-field team.

As an adult, Richards said, “I want to be successful. Not just money-wise, but in my career, helping people. I want to be compassionate in my work.”

Brad Leberman will be heading to Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts to major in architectural engineering. He isn’t waiting until after college to start, though. Leberman is currently working for a local construction firm.

Leberman often creates structures, conceiving and drawing buildings even in his free time. When he visited WPI in November, and saw their architectural engineering program first-hand, he knew it was the right place for him.

Leberman said one of the most vivid memories of his time at Inter-Lakes came during his junior year when, for the first time of his high school career, the school was able to hold a spring carnival. COVID had canceled the experience for his freshman and sophomore years, and he said it was a powerful moment to see the whole student body brought together.

“Since we couldn’t have it, you lose the camaraderie among students,” Leberman said. “Without it, there was a part of the school that felt like it was missing.”

Leberman was on the soccer team all four years, played basketball during his first two years, is an officer with NHS, was one of the band presidents, and played in both the band and jazz band.

“Dependable” is the kind of adult Leberman said he would like to become. “I want to be someone everyone wants to look to for advice — someone people can trust.”

Egan Towle will also be heading to Worcester Polytechnic to study mechanical engineering. He said he hopes to be able to design machines to improve people’s lives.

“I think prosthetics are really cool, and are moving in a cool direction,” Towle said.

Towle’s professional trajectory must be gratifying to his parents, who, he said, had to put up with a particularly inquisitive, and sometimes destructive, kind of curiosity.

“I’ve always been kind of a nuisance to my parents, taking things apart, trying to put them back together, breaking them to see how far they could go,” Towle said.

He said he realized mechanical engineering was the career path for him through his participation in the school’s robotics team, of which he eventually became captain. He also participated in soccer and alpine skiing, is active in the Outing Club and student leadership groups, and is president of NHS.

Towle said he wants to be “passionate” as an adult. “In whatever field I end up applying my degree, I want to be driven to achieve.”

Hannah Coleman is heading to Wheaton College in Massachusetts, where she will study early-childhood education.

“My goal is to be a first grade teacher,” Coleman said. “I’ve always known that teaching is the route I wanted to take.” She confirmed that this year, with an internship with Jennifer Petitti, who teachers first- and second-graders at Sandwich Central School. She also works at the Samuel Wentworth Library in Sandwich, where she has run the youth summer reading program.

Coleman is co-president of Student Council, and as part of that duty, helped to organize some of the larger events at the school. That role gave her a front-row seat for one of her favorite high school memories: “The practices from this year’s lip-sync competition. The actual event’s fun, but the practices, the senior class doing arts and crafts in the cafeteria at 9 p.m., it was really fun.”

As an adult, Coleman said she wants to be “kind and friendly — someone people can go to and feel safe with.”

The Inter-Lakes graduation ceremonies will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 17.