Our one of 360 series continues with another member of the class of 2024! Ninth grader Sofia T. ‘24 joined the Emma Willard School community in the fall as a day student, but has experienced boarding this spring. Read on for Sofia’s favorite classes, filmmaking experience, and more.

On Brooklyn, NY as home...

I'm from Brooklyn, I've grown up there all my life and it's a big part of my identity and personality. Brooklyn has its own little communities with quirks, so when I meet people who also live in there we immediately jump to talking about our favorite restaurants and spots to hang out. 

 My family is very different from each other but we can sit and talk and crack each other up watching a good movie, or have a serious conversation about politics. My brother Morgan, who is twelve, is very passionate about skateboarding. My mother likes to run, and my father likes to play guitar. My father is Jamaican, so we embrace our culture mostly with food and stories from there.

On experiencing Emma so far...

My experience at Emma has been amazing so far. My dad went to Exeter, so boarding school has always been an option my parents presented for me. Last year, when I was in eighth grade touring schools, my mom always paid a bit more attention to Emma than the other schools, driving from the city to come visit campus. When I got accepted my parents and I immediately knew I would go here, we were all really drawn to the community. 

I came as a day student in the fall and I think without that experience I would have really been lost when I came as a boarder in January. My favorite class so far has been Physics, and although I’m not the best at it, I really enjoy the hands-on attitude the class has. I didn’t even know I liked science this much before I came here!

On filmmaking...

I'm very passionate about film, I love the technical parts of movies and getting all the scenes in order and coming up with interesting ideas for projects. Around fourth or fifth grade I was part of a comedy club--I never really liked acting, but directing and scripting was my forté. 

During my middle school years I started making my own short films. This past summer I planned, location-scouted, shot, and edited a short film in under twenty-four hours, so I’m very proud of that. I’m currently taking Film and Video and I have been really enjoying learning how to create film and collaborate, although I think things I create on my own are very good too.

On Emma traditions...

Since I am a ninth grader and COVID has halted most celebrations, I dont have the greatest sense of Emma traditions. From what I've seen and heard every tradition seems to be so fun and vibrant! Obviously Revels seems to be the biggest tradition at Emma, and from what I’ve heard everyone (and some of my senior friends) talking about it as their favorite, so I’ll follow the crowd and say my favorite Emma tradition is Revels too.

On hobbies...

I’m so interested in so many things! I look at the course log probably once a week to try and pick my future classes and some of my top picks are: drawing, painting, psychology, philosophy, and I’ve really enjoyed spending time in the bird room [in Weaver] looking at all the specimens so I’m very interested in taking Biology! Of course in a normal year, when I would be older, doing a foreign language trip (I take Spanish) is one of my goals for my highschool experience!

Thank you, Sofia, for sharing your passions and contributing to the Emma Willard School community in your own unique way! We are excited to see how you will serve and shape our world!